The Classic Tale of You and Me
by Shirai Hisaishi
Summary: Farm boys. Len and Rei have different dreams and goals in life, but have the same thirst to achieve those. Their ideas are distinct colors that don't mix yet look good together. They are best friends, but for how long? Will the two of them find the real contentment and happiness?
1. Prologue

" ' _True love,' he said." Inigo cried. "You heard him true love is what he wants to come back for. That's certainly worthwhile."_

 _\- William Goldman; The Princess Bride_

In a small town somewhere in the countryside, a fine pair of good friends lived. A flaxen and a raven haired, despite their obvious differences, blend smoothly. Both have the same pale skin that blushes like tomatoes when exposed to the sun midst of the harvest - nothing but the same face of most all of the villagers in the farm and fields.

It's a warm and sunny morning when the two went to green fields to help Len's mother milking the cow. Len, the boy with flaxen hair, ran ahead of the other boy - Rei, as each of them carried a pail containing bottles for the milk. Bare footed, they ran merrily, ignoring few pebbles that pained their feet against the meadow. When the two reached the pallid stout cattle, the two fell on the grasses, the raven haired - Rei commented that Len won the race for that morning.

"The run is so unfair, though," Rei commented as he laid his back against their green bed offered by nature, amber eyes fixed on the clouds rolling by. "You literally barged in our house, wake me up, and started a race to that cow of yours. No fair,"

"It's called a surprise, Rei. You always win. This is just one of the few moments when I beat you, feel proud of me because I don't even know I'm capable of that. To think, even we're living this farm life for what extends to forever, I'll never had the strength and endurance just like yours! Just give me this moment," the boy called Len laughed as he finished a bottle of cow's milk and moved to the next bottle to fill.

"Excuse me, we're eleven, and I think eleven years is enough for this kind of living. I don't want my life to be like this, Len, not for forever. The world is huge and a lot of opportunities wait, why shall we tie down ourselves in this...petty lifestyle!" Rei rose and tossed an empty bottle to Len - that the blond instinctively caught. The blond shrugged with Rei's litany, maybe tired of hearing it for the past eight years - since his friend learned to talk.

"This isn't a petty living, Rei. It's simplicity." Len countered, securing the bottle with a cap to keep the milk away from dirt. He lied beneath the cow's udder and began milking to shoot the fresh milk to his breakfast-deprived mouth.

"What makes you think that farm life isn't petty, Len? We're third class. People from the city - near the kingdom think we're stinking low class life forms made to be with...with animal's level! What is this not petty that you're seeing and I'm not seeing?" Rei's demand, however, was unheard as Len audibly proclaimed that the milk was delicious. Though disappointed because his friend seemed not to care with his complaints, Rei just shrugged and reminded himself that he never would he be able to change Len's view of living.

"That's what you're thinking, Rei." Len grabbed the third bottle and resumed his work, his voice was serious as if to prove that he had a just thinking about Rei's opinion. "Without us, those people in the kingdom will die. No food, you see. We're important and what is it that not-petty that I'm seeing, is the fact that those people are none other than dependent parasitic suckers who rely on the raw products of the farm people to aid their aching stomach."

"Still not a life I wanted," Rei dismissed as fast as the wind and helped Len finishing the remaining four bottles. "I'm planning to come with Madame Prima once she delivers the milk in the kingdom. My father asked me to join the knights."

"Are you serious or what? There's a rumored war with the neighboring kingdom. You're risking your life to train and battle in the future - only to lose your life in a picayune misunderstanding between kingdoms?" Len raised a brow with what he thought 'unwise' as Rei's decision. Howbeit he knew there's nothing that could change Rei's mind, he would try. Len wasn't so open with the thought of his only friend dying in his own pool of blood in the battlefield.

"At least I serve my skills, didn't you say I'm strong and have a good endurance?"

"Yes, but I never meant you'd be a knight." Len rolled his eyes.

"Now, that's mean. I'll train, I'll improve. I'll be a good knight." Rei dreamily chortled and pulled another empty bottle. "You'll see me, Len. I'll be raising my bloody sword as I take part in the success of our kingdom!"

" - or let the enemy's sword slash you beneath your armor." Len broke Rei's daydreaming and stood, scanning the field with such amusement. Len's cerulean eyes never looked gloomy for all the years - it's just full of wonder and innovation. Such boy loved to device new things that will entertain him. "Be a knight if you wish to, just come home alive, I'll be glad. While I stay here and study in the clock tower with Sir Leon, and you'll see how I'll spread industrial revolution - the same way it did in the central Europe!"

"You and that old man's book -"

" - are wise," Len continued Rei's supposed to be insult, "hasten thy work! I shall aid the old man with his niece coming from the neighboring kingdom. I thought you'll be a knight?"

"You want me to cut the poor cow's udder?"

"Too rude of you. Learn the chivalry, Rei."

When Rei finished, the two of them dashed against one another, claiming that the last one will collect the horse's stool. But in the end, they both reached Len's house at the same time and decided to help finishing the work. Best friends are they called, but the little thing is - for how long? They enjoy each other's company despite contrasting ideas and viewpoint. Nevertheless, exceptional in their own ways.


	2. Len of Green Fields

The green field was covered with orange lights as soon as the sun lowered from the sky. Len, watching the sunset on their porch, had his eyes steadied on the scattering of light behind the mountains. It was a cold afternoon and the darkness was just around the sky, waiting for the sun's departure. He seemed not bothered by the cold wind although he lacked to wear something thicker than his stained shirt. His cuffs were unbuttoned, permitting the cold air to circulate on his arms.

"Len? Mother is looking for you," an older blonde came out from the door looking like she's on her early 20s. A checkered bandana kept her short golden hair out of her way. She was Len's older sister, Rin. Her gaze softened as she saw her younger brother spacing out. "What are you thinking, Len?"

The boy looked at her with a gentle smile, then sighed. His eyes studied the old skirt and apron his sister is wearing, but nonetheless not lasting. "Nothing much, sister. You'll be leaving in a month." His smile saddened. "Are you sure you love that merchant?"

"You seem not concerned about my marriage for the past month. What makes you ask, Len?" His sister tapped his shoulder and sat beside him, watching the stars to come out. "I love him more than you imagine. We've been friends since we're kids."

"Huh? I haven't seen him since I was born, with few exceptions of summer days." Len protested, still not welcoming the thought of his sister marrying, or the concept of marriage itself.

"I know him more than you do, Len. He's a merchant, nothing's new." Rin pulled him up and walked them inside their little cabin because the coldness was freezing her. "So, what's in your mind? I know you're thinking of something to invent."

Rin was Len's sister, older by ten years. She was the supportive sibling Len could ever have. The two of them find ways to do Len's ideas, constructing his little inventions through collecting items found in the field. The last time they built something, Len went remaking Leonardo Da Vinci's flying machine but the boy ended spraining an ankle.

So, to avoid further accidents, Rin introduced Len to her friend, Sir Leon from the clock tower. She used to deliver milk every morning to the noble bachelor since she was seven, no doubt that he would be friendly with her younger brother. Len was nine when he met the man from the clock tower. Like Len, the man was a creative being. The only difference is that, the man was formally educated from an academe where the famous philosophers, who Rin only knew by name, had studied. The bachelor lived his life without having his family. Thus, he dedicated his life widening his knowledge and sharing it to willing learners. Rin saw Len's potential as a scholar. He was a diamond in the rough, Rin thought. He could be the brightest diamond if polished.

"I'm thinking of how can we produce more crops within a year. Various crops, specifically. Shall I consult Sir Leon's books about plant propagation? " Len asked as they settled on their dining table, a fair wood cut like a table. The older sister just gave a bitter laugh and said that what Len was talking about was crop rotation. No books needed.

Len was from a family of farmers. They would never be able to call the land as their own because the aristocrats took it away from their ancestors as a compensation after murdering a noble. So, the part of land where they were living was the only part of land they could call as their property. Len's family was known in the small town for having the looks of a royalty - golden hair and blue eyed, though royalties were recognized having the redheads, after the late Queen. Many agreed that the humble family might be from a royalty. But the blondes knew how to ignore and stop dreaming to reach the castle. It's too impossible for peasants like them to come from the king's bloodline, especially when there were a lot of blonde and blue eyed people.

Len as a child was raised with cows, sheep and other farm animals. Together with his father's tall black dog, the boy grew spending his mornings with cows by milking them. His thick skinned feet were very used to the sharp blades of the grasses and his pale skin marked with freckles was acquainted with the sun. He developed his curiosity with the growing crops and how his father grow them. Len spent his mornings in cultivating the land, putting the stuffs that would make the soil fertile.

One time, when he was eight, Rei, their neighbor, joined him resting under the shade of a tree. The raven haired boy was rambling about how mighty the knights when their fleet passed by the clock tower from the border. "They were like statues riding horses! They were wearing metal armors that you could hear clattering as they pass by you! And I'm sure you'd adorn them as they proudly display the flag with the Queen's emblem!"

Len watched his friend talk about the Queen's army but of course, he wouldn't shun the guy by saying he wasn't truly interested with the knights, swords and wars. The blond boy was more of a peace loving person. He appreciates the heroism of the Queen's soldiers as they protect the kingdom, but Len wasn't fond of bloodbath and territorial dispute. Len was a kind boy, and all he could do was to talk with Rei, filtering the words coming out of his mouth.

Because Len was someone likeable, it didn't take so long for Rei and him to get along so well. The cold mornings were spent by the two, dashing across the field with Len's black dog. Len was always the last in the race to the cows. Rei would tease him being such a slowpoke and clumsy. Years of living in a field didn't help Len improve his stamina, he was sickly. Rei bet that the dog could last a ten mile run better than Len. It wasn't so long until Len began opening up his dreams and questions in life. He told Rei how much he loved to put the things together as if they were having connections, as if they were made to be a part of something else bigger. And so, Len's sister helped them building Len's first innovation, a mill. The thing helped their family producing finer flour in a shorter time. He gained recognition in the town as a Renaissance man for he unknowingly adopted the ideas from England.

Rei and Len enjoyed Rin's company - being the eldest, she does all the work, until the boys managed to do the work by themselves. Rei was the stronger boy, he was the one to build Len's ideas when Rin busied herself delivering milk and crop to the neighborhood and to the market near the castle. So, when winter came and there's nothing much to do, Len, Rei and Rin would stay together in the blonde's house and warm themselves. Rei would collect the twigs and branches to burn in the fireplace, warm milk for the three of them. He was more concerned of Rin than Len. So, if there's someone devastated about Rin's marriage, that would be Rei. Rei liked Rin ever since she helped them. Len was saddened at that news but not as downcast as Rei was. But Rei knew that Rin only liked him as a brother.

"Why? Do you like her more than a sibling does?" That's a question Len asked when he was unable to understand Rei's bawl, the moment they were left on the fireplace. "You're just nine, what do you know about what you feel?" The blond added, making the raven haired boy more furious.

"There's no girl like her, Len!" Rei cried.

"Of course, there's no other girl like my sister." Len answered, though he wasn't having the same attraction Rei had, he could feel him - the feeling that someone would be taken away from you, that hurts in one way or another. The two of them stared at the orange flames dancing in front them, an arm around each other.

"Len," Rin called as she dried her hands with the apron around her waist. "I haven't seen Rei in a little while. How is he?" The lady sat behind Len, peering onto his scribbles - a new machinery he was planning to build. An amused smile spread across Rin's face as she watched how Len tries to do a complex illustration. "Is that a handle?"

"He's busy strengthening himself, sister. He'd be going with Madam Prima in the kingdom proper to join the squire. Remember his stories about knights? He was decided to be one." Len explained as he labeled the parts of the machinery he was drawing. " - Yes, this is a handle."

The older sibling smiled as she kept an eye on her younger brother, her witty, imaginative brother. Her hand reached the top of his, her thumb massaging his skin. Len stopped from his work and stared blankly at his sister's weird affection, then looked at his sister's warm smile. "Continue your journey, Len." Rin met his eyes, both blue eyes were glistening against the orange flames. "Even sister will be living a life of her own, if you think I can help you, don't hesitate asking me. I'd love to participate building that flying machine,"

The boy smiled at his sister as he nodded, placing a palm above his sister's bigger hand. "I will," he assured, returning the caress Rin gave his hand. "You're my first worker, sister. You'll be the one I'll consult when I'm in trouble, you knew things better than I."

"No, you're mistaken. You're a smart boy, you'll find a place for you, not here. Your ideas shall not be concealed in a place like this. You see things better than I do, Len. I'll work hard so you can study in an academe." Rin was the supportive sister Len could ever have, "I want your ideas to grow like our crops. Bear fruit and sustain others. You'll ease others' lives. I'll work hard to give you education."

"I am glad to hear that, sister. But you should think of your own life, I'll be fine. Sir Leon as a mentor is enough, sis. There's no luck to be searched in the academe. If one is truly gifted, it will show. I'm not saying I am, but...I don't know what I am saying. Just mind your life," Len stood and tucked his papers neatly on the side of his bedside table. Rin watched him hid beneath his sheets as he informed the lady about Rei's disappointment about her marriage. Rin laughed and promised to talk to the boy tomorrow. With a last glance on her brother, Rin blew the candlelight and left his room.

Under the thin sheet, Len bit his lower lip in regret with his words. He wanted to study in an academe and help their little town. He was eager to learn more but there's no luck shining on his life. He wasn't ignorant at all. Len perfectly knew that they were poor, poor as a rat, being mere peasants working for an aristocrat. The world wasn't fair, only few could feel the progress, but not them - peasants. The world would progress, open larger opportunities but not for them. Only the noble people who could be favored by the kingdom could benefit from the figures, but they would remain untouched.

Rei was right, there's a lot of opportunities so why settle down for less. But again, Len closed his eyes and listened to the small voice inside of him. The emptier you hand is, the more you can hold. He was looking forward to holding something that will change the world and his life.

"I have an errand to run tomorrow, I shall not bother myself with the world's unfair theater." Len whispered to himself and chose to relax, sleep.

x

When Len woke, the warm rays of sun told him that his sister left their house. Rin usually leaves the house to deliver milk and the harvest to market - and today is not different. Without any ado, Len rose from his bed and raced with his dog to the field. The gleaming golden streak of light across the blue sky made him laugh merrily. The cold air kissed his face as the morning dew gave the same treatment on his feet through the grasses. His dog barked as if laughing with him as they ran amidst the eternal greenness of the field. Len's fringe was blown aside, showing off his forehead, round and clear.

Len stopped when he felt his lungs retire from a short dash. He stood amidst of the field, panting heavily while his eyes were fixed on the golden scattering rays of sun, creating the silhouette of the bordering mountains. Early birds flew above him towards the sun. A bright smile lit his face, though tired, he gathered his breath.

"I want to fly!" His voice resonated for miles until he heard it scream back to him. "I want to fly!" It said. Len's smile faded, he knew he could not. He wasn't as free as the birds in the fields. He was a bird with wings unopened. He was a bird in a cage, a cage where he truly belonged. The only thing left for him was to dream. At least, his ideas wasn't caged like his life.

The dog's bark made Len spun around, the black dog was already beside a cow they would milk for breakfast. The blond heaved a sigh, and without a choice, ran to his dog so the day would get started.

And in the end, he knew that the optimism he showed Rei was nothing but a sugar coated motivation that encourages his friend to seek his life away from their farm life. Rei was capable of finding his true north in the city, he was strong and clever, unlike Len, coward. The blond was sure that Rei would find his fulfillment because he had the will and guts to find his fate, while he? He would rely on the stars.

x

"Sir Leon, these were just huge bags. Where could have your niece had gone?" Len asked as he stood beside the blond man on his doorstep, watching the coachman to unload numerous suitcases from the carriage. The impatient boy he was, Len removed his hat. He wore his best dress shirt even it was old and yellowish, just to look presentable for his mentor's niece. Len knew that his mentor's attention would be divided between him and his niece as the two of them would undergo Leon's supervision.

"That's a question I cannot answer, Len. I, myself, have no idea where she had gone. I have never seen her. Well, I once had a glimpse of her as an infant, but that would lead to no recognition at all." Leon smiled at the coachman as he nodded to take his departure. "Thank you, sir." Leon bowed.

"The lady asked me to bring her to the church so I think she will be waiting for you to give her a lift," the coachman informed and left. Leon and Len exchanged a chortle as they busied themselves carrying the suitcases inside the scholar's house.

Minutes after, Len and Leon was riding the scholar's cart, pulled by his horse. Against the morning sun, the two headed to the church which was a mile or two away. The rough high road made the scholar grumpy, he wasn't a nomad and he disliked going from places to places. It was a Sunday morning and the turnpike was quiet, people were most probably inside the church. Leon fixed his tricorn and heaved a sigh. When he felt like he doesn't want to talk, he wouldn't say a thing at all.

Len looked at his mentor briefly and back on the road. The field beside the road was turning bright green against the sun. He perked up from Leon's shoulder to have a good view of the people irrigating their crops. Len remembered his parents doing such work. Just then, Leon noticed Len's outfit.

"You look good on a steinkerk and waistcoat, Len." Leon smiled. "If you become a noble, you'd wear such clothing all your life."

"There's a little possibility for me to become one, sire." Len went behaved on his seat as he saw the bell tower from where they are. People began walking out of the church as Len heard the faint bell ringing. "The mass is over. Don't we need to hurry?"

"No, I don't think so. I think my niece won't get out of the church until we arrive." Though Leon said that, he still whipped the horse to quicken its pace. "How is your friend, anyway? The one who wished to be a knight?"

"He shall meet Madame Prima today so he'll know if he can make it to the squire today."

"Don't you feel bad for him? Your close friend is leaving. Does it not sadden you even the tiniest?" The horse stopped and Leon jumped off from the cart first, then assisted the younger blond down.

"I don't know," Len answered as they entered the church. A church composition was being played on the piano. Leon and Len countered the flow of people leaving the church niy they managed to get in as soon as the song finished. The cardinal who recognized Leon called him from the altar.

"Sir Leon of Northern Pines!"

"Cardinal, it's good to see you still strong."

"Oh, who's this kid with you?" The lines on the priest's face made Len agree with Leon's greeting to the cardinal, it's good to see him still strong despite his age.

"This is Len of Green Fields. I'm sure you heard his name before. He made the first mill in this town." Leon proudly introduced Len to the cardinal as if he was bragging the potential of the kid.

"O' yes! Such kid earned the title of the town for his little invention! Glad to meet you, young sir." There was sarcasm with the priest's face as he voiced such words. Such icon who was thought holy could be that terrifying, really. Len took a step back, disliking the fake smile with the cardinal's yellow and unequal teeth.

Leon cleared his throat to pry the creepy stare the cardinal is giving his student. "I came here to know if my niece had gone into this place. Is she here?"

"Your niece, you say? You really had a gifted family, Sir Leon. She volunteered to be the harpsichordist, because ours was ill. Take the stairs behind the altar, she was on the platform for the choir."

"Thank you, cardinal. We shall leave, God bless you."

"God bless you and your student."

Len's eyes lingered for a moment on the frail image of the priest as they moved away. The scary smirk he had made Len conclude not to attend a mass conducted by such old man.

A new melody was being played as they ascended from the stairs. Len wasn't a fan of music but he surely adored the way the notes were played to create a wonderful music. The music illustrated a beautiful image in Len's mind - a beauty unseen by the eyes.

"My niece, Miku. Is that you?" Leon asked at the moment he laid an eye on the girl seated before the harpsichord. The girl was wearing a red bonnet complimenting her Victorian dress in rose's shade. Frills and ruffles overwhelmed her clothing, Len observed. Her waistcoat created an illusion that her waist was that small - or her waist was really small?

"Is that you uncle, Leon?"

"Yes."

"Can you play this with me?" The girl asked, head not turning to their direction. "Mother said you're good with such musical instrument." Leon's niece sounded so cheerful. And girlish.

"Is that a challenge question? My sister knew I am a naïve in music," Leon laughed and went to her side. "Let's go to your new home, Miku. I'm your uncle."

"Sure, uncle." The girl turned around and Len noticed her strange eyes. Those eyes were blue but there's something wrong with them. "Will you assist me to come down? I didn't come up here all by myself, if that's what you're thinking." Her smile was angelic and captivating.

Leon remained quiet but his face was inquisitive. He was about to ask after his silence, but his niece continued her talk.

"I lost my sense of sight years ago."

Along the way back to the house behind the clock tower, Len sat in front his mentor's niece at the back of the cart. The girl was quiet and unmoving, maybe pretending to be a doll. She looked like one, not so thin but relatively lean, pale and just staring. Her eyes were like the polar ice on the map. Len's eyes weren't leaving the girl as they carried on the rough ride, assuring that she was really blind and not playing a trick on them. And because they were behind Leon, Len went close to her and did stupid things. But no reaction.

"How old are you?" She suddenly spoke that it made Len retreat to his seat gentlemanly.

"Eleven, miss." He tried to sound noble even it sounded foreign to him.

"Ah," silence. Len suspiciously eyed her again, she was just smiling as she rubbed her bare palms together. "It's a cold weather you have here. Will it rain?"

"It's sunny, can't you s- I mean, it's sunny." Len forgot that she was blind for he was being too suspicious. A beautiful girl couldn't lie, could she? She seemed wise when she asked a challenge to Sir Leon. So, what drives Len mad?

"Sunny, yet cold. It was different from the place where I came from." She said and removed her bonnet, and let her shoulder length hair fall down. It was teal. Her hair was teal. Len gaped at the sight of such hair color. If the girl could see him, she would laugh. Luckily she couldn't so he kept on gawking and admiring her hair.

"W-where... Haven't you came from the neighboring kingdom?" Len asked, fingers reaching to touch her hair.

"Neighboring? I traveled for days by the Atlantic, is that a neighbor? I'm from the colony. It was a tropic country were the season is either wet or dry. It's like summer and fall, alone." She explained as she combed her candle fingers to her hair. "You could feel the heat during the day and night. Wet season is sometimes shorter than the dry one. People wear their summer clothes for almost a whole year through."

"Is your hair natural? I have never seen this hair color."

"I don't know. The last time I saw it, it was teal. Is the color the same? Isn't it not darker or what?"

"No. It's teal, still." Len held her unsteady gaze. "How old are you when you lost your sight?"

"I was seven." Her voice changed into something that qualified as hurt.

"Sorry," Len murmured. "Pray, say if this talk is hard for you."

"It's fine. At least, I can recall how colors used to look. Years of not seeing makes me forget. I remember how things looked in a blur."

"Kids, we're here." Leon announced as the cart came to a halt.

Len sighed and took the mentor's niece's hand and led her down. He was sure that Rei would love to hear a new story he would tell him. His mentor's blind niece and her weird but beautiful hair.


	3. Sir Leon

At the first cry of the rooster announcing the morning, Rei stumbled on the porch as he scampered out of their house. Biting a loaf as he was wearing his tattered waistcoat, he made his way to the road where Madame Prima's carriage passes by every Sunday. As agreed, Rei and Madame Prima would meet in front the barn to confirm if he could attend the squire.

His raven haired was neatly secured with a red garter at his nape. Rei's amber eyes were obliviously looked from side to side, no sign of carriage passing by. "I am not late yet, am I? Len's rooster just - "

Stomping horses stopped Rei's rant as a black carriage halted some meters away. He was sure that Madame Prima's carriage was blue and not black, but maybe she had encountered some bad luck that day. Rei watched the coachman to lean back and talk animatedly to who-he-thought the spinster from the kingdom.

"Good day, sir. Is there any problem?" Rei watched the coachman smiled in relief as his thumb pointed to the carriage.

"The lady inside wished me to stop her on the church. We're half a mile away from the church, and I fear not to bring her to her relative on time. They might worry." The coachman sighed. As he unfolded the piece of paper he was holding. "The address here says the house is near the clock tower of green fields," the man showed him the address.

Rei nodded. "Yes, it's a house near the foot of the hills. Is she Sir Leon's niece?"

"If that gentleman you're talking about was from Northern Pines, then yes."

"Alright. Leave me the lady, I know Sir Leon. My friend is his student. Just tell him to find his niece at the church." When he received the gleeful nod from the coachman, Rei pulled the door open. The coachman was just lazy to go back and do extra labor by waiting for the mass to finish. People, Rei thought, even when they had a decent job, they couldn't be a model of decency. "I still have few minutes to bring her there. If so, I could see Madame Prima. There's one road after all."

The sight of a girl around the same age with him, overwhelmed Rei's eyes. No strand of her hair could be seen dangling around her face, for it was kept by her bonnet. He could tell that. Her ruffled and frilled dress was astounding, one could easily tell that she was from a wealthy family. She fidgeted when she heard the door open. Her gaze was straight, seemingly piercing through him.

"Mister coachman, is that you?"

"No, miss. My name is Rei, I am a..." He would dare to tell, "future part of the squire of the kingdom. I volunteered to aid you to the church." The girl stilled, blinked then tapped the place before her seat, as if feeling where was the exit.

"Future squire, you say?" She smiled. "Why did you decide to make your way to a stranded carriage, sir knight?" There was mocking with her tone, but Rei was used with the same way of talking from Len. His blond friend always ridicules his dream of leaving the Green Fields.

"I thought this is the carriage where my Madame from the kingdom rides. She will bring me to the squire." Rei watched her move towards him slowly. He waved a hand in front of her but she didn't react.

Blind.

"Don't I trouble you for your schedule?" She asked as she finally touched the doorframe, only to be held by a rough palm to assist her down. 'Let me help,' is what Rei mumbled as she obligingly held on his shoulder and skipped down the carriage. "Thank you," she smiled, eyes piercing through him.

"Don't worry about my business. I shall meet Madame along the way. There's one way to get in and out of Green Fields, and that is to pass by this sole road. Come on before you may run late for today's mass." Rei signalled the coachman to leave as he put the girl's hand on his arm, and walked her to the church.

The walk was quiet and wary. Rei kept on turning his head, assuring that not a single soul had passed by before them. He was getting worried whether the old maid had forgotten their agreement last week so couldn't stop worrying. Meanwhile, the girl with him was quiet but of course, suspicious of him. She somewhat doubted his chivalry. Everyone could pretend to be a gentleman.

When they arrived, a commotion welcomed the two. The people attending the mass look panic stricken as the altar was still empty, waiting for the priest. A tall weary middle-aged man in long white dress passed by them, whispering the news that the harpsichordist wouldn't make it for today's mass. The man to whom he told the news answered that the harpsichordist was the only one who could play for that morning.

"Sir knight," sir Leon's niece called, "can you please inform the person stating the absence of the harpsichordist that I can play it for them,"

Rei looked at her inquisitively, a brow perking up in doubt. "Can you really play? It's a church thing and I -"

"Excuse me for my interruption, but I won't tell you otherwise there is no need for them to have a substitute harpsichordist." She said humbly yet her confident demeanor made look so high-class. Well, she really is.

"Of course, pardon me for my behavior." Rei did his best to hold his pride insulted from spilling and approached the man from a moment ago. "Good day sir. We've heard your dilemma and my company offers a hand to play the harpsichord - that's if you want to."

"We are more than grateful." The man's face seemed to glow. "Please do follow me on the stairs, God answered my prayers quickly."

The raven haired impatient boy went back to retrieve Leon's niece where he left her. She remained standing in there, staring blankly. He sighed audibly and announced his departure. "Little miss, they willingly accepted your help."

She smiled. "Can you bring me with them? This will be my last favor and you may leave me. I'll wait for my uncle here." He nodded and took her hand and assisted her upstair. When he settled her on the seat before the harpsichord, he bid adieu.

"Thank you, sir knight." Her fingers touched the keys. "I owe you."

"The pleasure is all mine, young miss. I hope to see you around. Good bye." Rei looked at her once more before running downstairs. The music began to play and he admitted that she was good. On his way down, he caught sight of a familiar scowl mixed on the quiet crowd - Madam Prima attended the mass.

"Madam Prima." Rei curtseyed beside Madam Prima. The old maid smiled and asked him to take the seat beside her. The boy willingly obliged.

"You've grown inches now. I assure you to leave by next month." The simple information made Rei so glad that he remained quiet yet blissful.

 _So next month it is._

A/N: Words coming from disheartened me.


	4. Kite and Life

Chapter 3: Kite and Life

A man born with talent is destined to be something _more._ The fortune knocks on his door, instead of him seeking it all over the world. Luck as it is called by others, but it is a gift for people with innate talents enriched.

Sir Leon, few weeks after the arrival of his blind niece, received a letter with the King's seal. The wise scholar living near the clocktower had a letter from the king, declaring him as the new Lord Chancellor, for the former one died just a week ago. The scholar's mind was blank - didn't know whether or not he'd be glad with the king's offer to him.

"Sir Leon, are you leaving to meet the king at the end of the week?" The scholar's student stared at the letter on the scholar's hand. Sir Leon has been staring at the letter since the day he received it, an unreadable expression was on his face. He sighed and dropped the letter on his table and turned to Len, the boy was sitting beside his table, his niece was holding at the hem of Len's shirt.

Sir Leon answered him that he's thinking about it.

"Isn't it a good offer? You love education and educating. The position does not require much of a work, if that's what are you worried about," his blond student told him innocently. The scholar sighed and stood, fingers resting on his chin and an elbow propped on his other arm. The king's offer is something hard to decline, as a matter of fact. Either his highness will forge it, or you'll be accused with your unfaithfulness to the kingdom.

"A position near the king, or anything taking place in the palace is something serious, Len. Life's not as easy as it seems to be. You won't like wearing wigs and fancy clothes on nonsensical balls - I swear, I'd rather read than dance."

"If you're worried about dancing, I'm sure you'll learn it soon. You learn things in a short time, cicerone." Leon sighed hopelessly, Len wasn't getting his point at all. He looked back at him, he was still seated with his _seemingly_ mute niece.

"No, Len. I don't learn things uninteresting to me. Why don't you take Miku out for a walk, and I will take my time deciding for the matter?" His tired smile fooled his student enough for the farm boy nodded and assisted the blind girl and walked out of Leon's study room. When they were out of his vicinity, he mumbled; "why am I an adult again? I'd like to see things as simple as how Len sees it."

The scholar leaned on his seat and stared at the letter on his table, again, then brought his palm to his face. Things are getting complicated than he expected it to be. When he first came in the kingdom, he perfectly planned to be unnoticed by the king. Turns out to be a failure of his plan, though. He was not even done with his purpose of coming in the town, and his duty was not yet fulfilled. He could not take the king's offer, but how can he refuse? His shoulders sagged as another sigh escaped his lips.

Her quiet footsteps were taken carefully, her grip on his arm was suffocating every time they would step down from stair to stair. He just watched her, furrowing brows on some occasion. Len did not complain with Miku's grip on him because other than she is blind, nothing's left to understand deeper.

"Your name is Miku and you're as old as I am. You're from the colony, you lived in a place where only two seasons exist. You came here because your parents wanted you to learn and regain your sight - these are the only things I knew about you, Sir Leon's niece." Len guided her to sit under a tree, hands holding her hand as she lowered herself on the grasses. She gasped when she felt the tree's trunk rubbing on her suddenly - well, she lost her balance - and calmed down when her free hand felt the grasses.

"There's nothing important about me that you have to know," she mumbled, playing with the ribbon around her waist. Her smile was blooming like the sunflowers when he did not respond. She was always like that, smiling when he was silent. "What are you going to do now, Len? It's been a week that I am with you. I fear that I might be occupying your time that you should've spent on your _works_."

"Worry yourself not, Sir Leon's niece. I am fine, I needed this time for myself as well. I need to rethink of my ideas by now, and whether I shall continue or not." Len took the space beside her as he stared at the swaying greenness of the corn field before them. Behind the clocktower, a corn and wheat field were under the care of Rei's parents. Such refreshing sight becomes more breathtaking when the harvest comes. Everything is gold and sandy in color, it's bright and radiant. "So beautiful,"

The little miss remained silent as she thoughtfully feels the caressing of the wind. The clashing of the leaf blades as it sway together with the wind is a mesmerizing music to listen to. She relaxed against the tiring wave of cool air, smiling joyously again. "I never heard such serenity when I was home,"

"Such feeling never demanded to be heard, my lady. It's meant to be felt." Len laid on his back, watching the sunlight to sneak out of the gaps between the leaves of the tree. There was silence once more, it was light and comforting though.

"If you've lived your life in the colony, you will understand what I mean. Each and every place, people are oppressed, there's not a day you'll hear no screaming and protesting. Even we, who have lived quite better than most of the natives, can be a victim of the soulless guards of the Queen." There was a hint of sadness in her narration, but her smile concealed it with perfection. She was staring straight into nothingness, for she sees nothing at all, and a chortle rose softly from her throat. "That's why I am feeling the serenity through this wind circulating 'round us. It's freeing, it's cold, it's peaceful. Don't you feel that way?"

"Feeling the wind run this fast, peace has not been the first thing I am thinking of." Len sat and propped his elbows on his knees and his eyes followed the continuous dancing of the tall grasses. The boy closed his eyes, the wind was more felt that way as it brushed by his sleeves and neck and face; the tree where they sat under sang them a soft hum-or a giggling perhaps, not like he'd know- and he had to agree that the feeling was freeing, if and only if, you consider to close your eyes and feel it _deeply._ "I want to make a kite," Len whispered at the wind, he wanted to fly a kite. _Fly_ , he'll never stop trying to do that. Little by little, he will make it.

"Pray do so, if you want to leave, you can. I will remain here and my uncle will see me. Are we far from his house?" Len shook his head as a response. The wind slapped him back to reality with that sudden blow. He brought his eyes to her, she was smiling. And staring. That weird yet beautiful shade of blueness of her eyes reminded him that she is blind.

"We are not, my lady. I will be back here, I will fetch my things at home, and maybe Rei too. It won't be so long. I must be going," he rose and dusted off his pants. With a last glance at the well dressed niece of a scholar, Len left for a run.

"Rei! Rei! Are you there?" Len barged in Rei's wooden house, the raven haired boy is sitting on his bed. His golden eyes widen in surprise after seeing Len carrying a bag and sticks with him. "Rei," the blond smiled at him in relief.

"What's the ruckus about?" Rei greeted, closing the book he is reading. It's a book that the old maid lent him, containing all the rules and ways of a knight. His eyes examined the panting blond from head to toe, Len surely ran again. Len's cheeks were red as he smiled sheepishly to Rei.

"You have nothing to do yet, haven't you?" Len asked, eyes hoping.

"Well, actually...I am reading," Rei gestured to the book he was reading a moment ago, a forced smile made him look like Len's dog trying to grin.

"Chivalry? You have few weeks before you leave! Why don't we go? Come on! The wind is amazing! Let's build a kite!" The blond pulled the unwilling boy away from his bed. "And believe me, you're chivalrous enough to read not the book!"

"What a console,"

"I'm speaking the truth, Rei. Let's go!"

The two ran their way to the clocktower, with Len's dog running ahead Len himself. Rei was ahead Len, he volunteered to carry Len's things because it would struggle the blond from running. However, even empty-handed, Len was still a slowpoke. The sun was glaring down but it wasn't hot to make them kneel on the ground. Rei stopped and waited for Len to reach them, the dog wagged its tail in anticipation.

"Len! Hurry," Rei shifted his weight from foot to foot, impatient with Len's decreasing speed. The blond panted loudly and gestured him to go ahead.

"Make your way to the tree behind the clocktower. The lady's waiting in there." Len informed as he went to jog after Rei and the dog dashed away. "Oh no, my lungs are burning," the blond left.

Rei was the youngest son of his parents. He used to have a brother - that was before he learned that the older brother was adopted. His brother left to find his real parents, and probably by now, had found them. Rei's parents are cultivating the land behind the clocktower. It was owned by the church and they were commissioning on it through the farmers. His parents were unwilling to work for the priests because sometimes they are too strict, but most of the lands in the Green Fields were occupied by other farmers.

Ever since he was younger than he is now, Rei wanted to be a knight. It was a dream every boy in their town dreamed, but he was more than a dreamer. He applied the chivalry in his day to day living. Thus, he was liked by most of the people in the town. He was seen by everyone as a growing gentleman, and he was always told that. Albeit there were times that he could be silly, still he was a boy with a good heart - much like his best friend, Len. When together, every afternoons they spent together was fun. Rei helped Len building things he had never thought could have existed, but was willing enough to work out, as long as it's for his best guy.

Rei was the exact opposite of Len. If Len is the turtle, Rei is the rabbit. When Len works with ideas, Rei deals with actions. And Len is such a person very open about his feelings and dreams, Rei is more secretive about his emotions. Rei is a companion Len needs to neutralize his dreaming, when it exceeds reality. But when Len is being a pessimist, Rei will cheer him up. Or the other way around.

The raven haired boy felt the wind against him as he entered the shade of the tree Len's talking about. It's nice and cozy for it tickles his pale skin. He looked to what seems to be an endless field of corn and wheat, and was reminded that it's the place where his parents work. A shuffling of grasses surfaced against the lullaby of the wind. Len's dog ran to the other side of the tree while Rei waited for Len to come. It got his attention.

"Arf! Arf!"

Rei walked over to the other side and saw Len's dog being patted on the head by a teal haired little lady. Her dress was neat and frilled, he could tell that she was a noble woman. Her hair, not so long, was braided and lying on her shoulder.

"Arf! Arf!" The dog ran to Rei, such sudden action abandoning the lady made her gasp.

"Good day, little miss. Did..." Rei paused, "did my dog's friend - I mean friend's dog, hurt you?" Why ask when Rei perfectly knew that she was unhurt. In fact, the dog was enjoying her pat. She answered him with a wince and a friendly smile, eyes nor head was not lifted to look at him. How rude, he thought before deciding to leave.

"Excuse me,"-she spoke-" sir, have you seen a boy around? He is called Len and he is sir Leon's student. I am waiting for him."

Rei walked and stopped before her, he was towering. The wind blew gently, disheveling his black hair out of its garter. She was the same girl from the carriage some days ago, he mused. _And she was blind, I thought she was just spacing out_. Rei mentally scolded himself as he brought down the bag and sticks Len had. "No, the boy's a slowpoke. If he asked you to wait here, it will take him long enough, he runs slowly."

"Aha," she tried to sound amused, "don't you think you speak a bit crude about my friend? He's nice and...entertaining, but let's say he really is slow, aren't you _too_ blunt for that?" She smiled, sarcastic enough. Her words were strong, for him it was, yet a smile alone from that beautiful young face erases the impression that she has a sharp tongue. And witty brain.

"You said you are his friend," Rei said, she nodded. "Friends speak that to their friends," he sat in front her and studied her changing expressions which was enjoying for him to watch.

"I don't know if that's really nice," she commented, clasping her hands together, "for I never spoke to him like that, and I don't plan to,"

"Well, we do," Rei said and smiled. "I am his friend, the same boy who helped you to find your way to the church," he separated her hands and pulled the other one to kiss it. "Nice meeting you again, my lady."

"Oh," that's what all she said, quite surprised with his introduction and greeting. He let go of her hand and stared, the dog was seated beside him, keeping an eye on her as well. Silence between them seemed too thick for her to handle, she fidgeted and lost her confidence she had just a while ago. Probably she felt humiliated there.

"Rei!" Len called, a hand stretched to support him against the trunk. "Huh, I...whuh," the blond gasped for air and fell beside the young lady, he crashed on her skirt spreading on the grasses.

"Len!" Rei laughed when the lady sounded worried as she tapped her sides to identify where Len is.

"He is fine, don't you worry," Rei informed and waited for Len to rise. The blond lifted his chin to look at his friend, a sneer plastered on his silly face. When he felt like he has recovered from his jog, Len sat and smiled at him.

"Thanks for coming, Rei!" Len chirped, earning a scowl from his friend.

"I didn't come here willingly, don't smile at me like that." Rei reached out for Len's materials, "let's begin your kite, _sire,"_ the boys laughed while Miku remained stiff and out of place.

"Ah! Young miss," Len had a variation of name to call Miku, "this is my friend, Rei, and he helps me in almost everything I do, he's my best friend, and wants to be a knight. Rei's leaving after a month,"

"I know," Miku smiled and blinked, "we met, he brought me to the church when I first arrived here," she pulled her knees to her and listened to the wind, and the dog's pant. The boys were quiet, in which she assumed that they were beginning to build a kite. Just then, she prompted, "What is a kite?"

Rei and Len looked at her, heads snapping. They looked at each other before staring back at her-she blinked and waited for an answer. Rei cleared his throat and Len startled. "Ah," the blond sat beside her, "can I see your palm?" The girl showed it. "It's a diamond-framed thing, like this," Len drew a diamond on her palm, "and is covered with either paper or cloth, then flown in the wind at the end of a string,"

"Is it flying?" She held on his arm, slightly rising from her seat, interested much with his descriptions. "I haven't seen one in my place...before, of course," she cheered. Len chuckled and answered her a yes, it flies.

The two began constructing the kite, they tied strings on crisscross sticks of average length and width. Rei inspected if it is light enough, Len brought out the cloth and covered the diamond-frame. He tied it at the end of the string he rolled around a stick. Rei tried releasing it against the wind, and fortunate were they, it is flying.

Len looked back at the quiet lady seated under the tree's shade, she was patting his dog's head, and an idea popped in his head. He whistled, and the dog left Miku's side. He had a thin rope in his bag and tied it around the dog's neck, and made a longer one to tie it from the dog's collared-rope. He, then, pulled the dog towards Miku, that surprised the lady when the dog licked her. "Here," Len made Miku hold the rope, and instructed her to hold it tightly, circling the rope on her palm twice. The blond ran a distance from the shade, where Rei was holding the kite, and whistled, beckoning the dog to them.

Giddy, the dog ran and Miku was pulled, and she stumbled. The boys gasped and stopped the urge to laugh, as Len yelled that Miku should stand. She obliged howbeit clueless what's going on, and told him she doesn't know where to go.

"The dog will lead you, don't be afraid!" Rei exclaimed and tapped Len's shoulder for his idea. The wind felt so lively as Miku slowly walked, even her dark world was leading her to wherever on earth it was, she trusted the force pulling her, thanks to the dog. _Don't be afraid_ , she mumbled, _the dog is leading me_.

The dog is squirming, signalling Miku to take her steps faster but she just fretted and both palms now held the rope. "Slow down! Slow down!" Her protest appealed not to the dog, they are near the boys.

She, soon, reached them, and Len removed the rope from her palms. "You'll fly the kite. Do the honors, our miss," he said gentlemanlike and wrapped her fingers on a roll of soft threads. His words made her smile. The three stood under the sun and against the windy field where the chorus of the clashing leaf blades were louder and more felt.

"I don't know how, Len." She loosened her grip and tried to place it back on his hand, but this fingers held it back against hers.

"No, you do it. Rei and I will tell you. Right, Rei?" Len smiled boyishly, but that wasn't seen. He was surprised when her hand landed on his face, slender fingers traced his jaw to his lips - which was still smiling.

"I can hear you smile," she whispered, then chuckled. "No, I can feel it. Through your words," Len laughed and brought her hand back to the roll of strings.

"Alright, you'll be our kite's pilot," Rei shrugged with Len's term, "and we'll do it now,"

"I don't know what to feel. But, it seems pointless to me. I won't see it fly, I don't even know what is flying," she argued, still losing a reason to fly the kite. She felt like she was hindering the boy's play, and they wouldn't admit it to her.

"Miss, do you know how birds fly?" Rei asked, standing beside Len. When she nodded, he continued, "that's how a kite look when it's flying. It's suspended in the air. You'll make it fly, it's like yourself floating in the air," he gave her a pat, "you'll feel it as it soar up above," Rei smiled, "the way how you felt Len's smile,"

"Ah, you're a _creepy_ poet, Rei." Len sagged and stood behind Miku, his arms were by her sides as he held the roll of strings with her. "Don't you worry, I will assist you,"

Rei stood around five meters from them, the roll was being pulled. The wind blew hard that it almost took the three with it, and Rei glided the kite. Miku screamed as she felt a strong force pulling the long string, it almost dragged her to the direction of the kite if it's not because of Len assisting her. They rolled it so the kite would fly higher, and she could feel how it rises in the air. She was laughing with them, the two were cheering for they have never flown a kite with such altitude.

It was strong and free and high, she could feel it. The place the kite was occupying in the sky might feel more relaxing than on the ground, and just then, she thought that she wanted to know how it felt to be up there, where the wind most probably be cooler. Each sway and wobbling of the kite was felt on the string she was tugging, as she and Len attempted to make it stable.

"My lady, do it alone." Len freed her hands, and at an instant, she worried. She couldn't make it alone, the wind would take it away from her, she was panicking. The kite was unsteady in the air, she could feel it wobbling from side to side, and Rei watched that. Soon, a hand assisted her from her right, Len's palm was back to aid her. The kite was uncontrolled again, almost falling on Len's side, until another hand held her left one, pulling back the string to that side.

"It should be balanced. Play with the wind as if it is a balancing act, young miss," Rei lectured. It was followed by his scolding to Len, telling him that the blond should've not let her do it alone that fast.

"Hold on a second," Len halted his friend's rant, "aren't you the one who encouraged her to fly it? I assisted her at the beginning, you know that. She has to trust herself so she won't lose control on the kite,"

"Aha, aha, says you. That's very rich Len," Rei's smirk was unnerving the blond.

"I am faithful," Len retorted, "that's why I'm planning to fly again,"

 _Fly again?_ Miku almost released the kite form her hands.

"Ah, I see." Rei scowled. Their argument was broke when Miku screamed, the wind was blowing hard and they hadn't noticed that since they were busy arguing. The dog was pulling Miku at the hem of her skirt so the wind wouldn't take her away, and the two rushed to her side to help her.

At the large window from the study room, Sir Leon watched the three flying a kite. He was glad to see that his niece was enjoying, but he was more disturbed by the fact that he definitely had found _him,_ and yet unsure. Life offers countless possibilities and he can't be that sure without confirming it - without the cardinal knowing _it._ He grimaced and looked at the three children once more, thinking how would he tell the _Queen_ and _King_ that their _child_ is alive.

Luck as it is called by others, but to be the _King_ and _Queen's_ child is destiny. Sir Leon has a problem how to finish his task, before accepting the King's offer - he cannot possibly pledge his loyalty, when he wasn't his king to begin with.


	5. Sleepover

Chapter 4: Sleepover

The moon settled high in the sky, round and bright. Cooler than this morning, the breeze blew gently, making their bare skins ticklish. Len's linen shirt was swaying like the waves of the sea as he led the way to the barn house. Miku was holding his arm while pulling her bedgown up, every step she took was accompanied by a soft squeak.

Len clutched her other hand from her behind as they ascended on the uneven landscape. As if mocking them, the dog which was seated at the door of the barn barked at them. It was not totally dark but still, it freighted Len to find their way. A figure emerged from the opened doors of the barn, it was holding a lamp.

"We are near, my lady." Len cheered, hands trembling as he pulled her up. She smiled, eyes blinking with innocence as she stumbled few steps, but got on her feet as quick as she fell. Her world was dark and yet filled with wonder, Len was coloring it for her. Before, she cared not about how her world felt. The devastation after she lost her sight imbued her with negativities. It was just recently, when she accepted her fate was like this, that she began to appreciate the things unseen and yet felt.

Miku developed a deeper sense of appreciation of the things around her. The stuffs seemed invisible when she could still see, were coming to her along the wave of amusement. Birds chirping, the fire crackling, the blowing wind, the music - everything appeared to be meaningful to her. It's just a shame that she appreciated these little things when she lost sight of them. All those days when her sight became blurry, she wished that she shouldn't have taken it for granted. However, without that experience, she wouldn't be the sentimental person she is now.

A hand held her elbow, another entity led her to their destination. Rei helped Len as they moved inside the barn. Miku heard the dried grasses complaining in her every step, and she was slowly lowered to sit on a stack of hay, the smell was strong and dying, in a sense.

"Are you sure that you can sleep on this hill of hay?" Rei asked as he blew out the lamp and claimed his place beside Len. The boys waited for her answer, which didn't disappoint them. She nodded and smiled, patting her place as she laid on the hay.

"If Len and Rei can, I can too."

"But my lady, I'm sure Sir Leon will -"

"Len, I told you for a thousand times and more, just Miku. That will be fine," she laid back and clasped her hands together above her stomach.

"Ah, Miku. But, Sir Leon will not be glad to hear that you sleep in a barn," Len kept an eye on her, worried and tired.

After the kite's flight, Sir Leon offered a ride home to Len and Rei. That was a strange offer, so the two accepted. It so happened that Sir Leon asked permission to Len's parents for Miku's stay for a night and day, because the scholar would be out of the kingdom for a certain mission. Len's parents were surprised but they didn't refuse. Rin talked to the girl a lot, and Miku enjoyed the casual talk.

"What makes you think that he will not be glad?" Miku countered, the smile was never leaving her pink lips. Rei watched them intently, anticipated with the conversation between a _real_ noble child against a _pretentious_ one. He glanced at the contemplating blond before he raised a hand and reasoned;

"Because the niece of an aristocrat is sleeping on a stack of hay! With two farm boys!"

Len is a poor debater. Rei scoffed and winced with Len's choice of reason - he would have won this argument against the hard-nosed girl, who is literally ignorant of farming and _kites._ Len should have shushed the girl by telling her that she's accompanied by boys. A girl with boys in a farm, given that she's a noble, is a disgrace.

"You'll get dirty. You will wake in the morning with the grasses stuck on your hair. You will wake smelling like a cow poop - you won't like that, he too. You will not sleep well, it will itch your skin. So, please, my la-Miku, I will bring you back inside and Rin will stay with you." The blond exaggerated some facts just to convince the girl to sleep inside instead.

"Len? Can I ask you something?" She rose to sit, Len assisted her instantly. He answered a yes and she continued, "do you believe in stratification?"

Rei waited for Len's answer. He knew the answer too well, he could have told it to Miku if Len would please him to. Len never liked the thought of classifying people into classes, it felt like they were rats. Whenever Len and Rei talk about their farm life, Len refuses to call it a _petty_ living, even if it's too obvious. His guy never liked the idea that there could be people below and above each other. Despite the blatant differences, Len believed that people are equal.

"I don't," Len's voice was serious, true to his expression. His fringe covered his eyes, casting shadows on his white face. The moon gleaming from the high windows struck Len with its magnificent light, amplifying the looks peculiar to a regular farmer. A soft hand landed on the blond's face, it traced his lips as Miku spoke;

"I do not, too. If that's your belief, you will allow me to sleep on this stack of hay, wake smelling like a cow; we're equal, aren't we?" This time, Len felt her smile even without looking at her. "I'm sorry, don't frown. I didn't mean to sadden you,"

"You did not," Len held his head high and winked to Rei. The raven haired boy shrugged and rolled his eyes. "I was imitating Rei's actions."

"Is your friend frowning? Sir knight, are you frowning?"

"I wasn't, Miku. That guy is a liar. He hated to admit that he was quite paradoxical, you know. He said he didn't believe stratification, and yet, he called you an aristocrat - he even identified himself as a farmer," Rei chuckled as Len tried pouncing on him; Len's a slowpoke so Rei dodged him with ease. He caught Len locked in his arm and spanked the blond.

Miku chortled gracefully, making the two stop torturing each other. They smiled seeing the young lady laugh, it felt relieving for the two. "If Rei will leave few weeks from now, who will tell me if Len is lying with his expressions?" She asked, hands playing on the grasses beneath her palms. For the first time, the air between the three felt suffocating. "I think, being with Len is fun. With Rei, it's more enjoyable. Because, Len likes Rei. Len is enjoying twice with Rei around."

Len crawled to her other side so she was in between him and Rei, a genuine smile eased the blond's face as he put his hands on her shoulders. She was startled, Len sighed behind her. "Of course, I like him a lot. He's my best friend. But I can't keep him by myself, he has his dream. And it's in his reach. I'll be happier if he achieve it, alright? Good night, my lady." Len pushed her down, and the three lied on the grasses. In reality, it was just Miku who closed her eyes. The boys? Reflecting on her words. They would miss each other a lot.

Sir Leon knelt in front his _King_ and _Queen._ It was before the darkness of the evening when he reached the kingdom. The scholar was welcomed with a glad hand and was escorted directly to the _king_ and _queen._ Amusement and glee were painted on the faces of the royals as they saw the wise knight they had sent for a special journey, came back to them after long years of waiting.

"My _king_ and _queen,_ it's a pleasure to be welcomed warmly in my _home_ place," Sir Leon curtseyed, eventually kneeling and stooping his head, not rising until the king acknowledge him to rise from his knees.

"I am surprised to see you again, Sir Leon. The _king_ and I thought you were lost and all. Do you, perhaps, bring a good news with you?" The queen asked upon he rose from his knees, the king was fidgeting in anticipation.

A king with a weary bearded face and a queen with the beauty of a goddess; a king who won all his fights and expanded his kingdom beyond what was imagined and a queen of such wisdom who ruled the kingdom with prosperity; a father and a mother who lost their only son. Sir Leon looked at _his_ king and queen with delight, his good news is waiting to be heard. He stood still before the royalties, their eyes were piercing through his very soul.

"I am delighted to see the two of you, your majesty. It's been a long time," Leon greeted. The Queen smiled and the King spoke:

"It's been a long time, yes. My wife and I are waiting for your news. I hope that I'm not pressuring you-your journey back here might be tiring, but we are longing for our child. Where is he? Is he alive? Did that traitor kill him or what?"

"Your highness, don't speak like that." The queen placed a hand atop of her husband's hand, "Sir Leon might have gone a lot to give us at least a good news," she turned to the knight. The darkness of the night succumbed the palace, evident through the flickering candles around the throne room.

"I have found the child, and yet have not. The same cardinal who took your son away was pestering me to confirm whether the child was the _prince_ or not. Worry less for the boy is as ravishing as his parents, and wise as the queen." Leon informed. Amid his declaration, he didn't miss how the king winced and the queen frowned. "But the boy is residing to your overthrown cousin, my Queen,"

The Queen's face gleamed with hope upon hearing his last information. She knew a sole cousin so close to her, who was overthrown after she was mistaken as a threat to the Queen's life when she served a dish that is not allowed for the queen to eat. Even the Queen considered it as an honest mistake, the council of ministers decided to exile the royal from the kingdom. "Are you referring to Neru, Sir Leon?" The queen asked, half hoping that it was really her cousin who took care of her child.

The knight nodded and said, "the lady-in-waiting was now a farmer in the Green Fields,"

"The small town from the rapacious kingdom! Our child was there?! What a misfortune for him!" The king exclaimed.

"Yes, your highness. The boy grew thinking he is a farm boy. I have not yet confirmed it, but I remembered the queen telling me the prince has a nevus on his chest, where his heart is." Leon continued, recalling the details the queen had told him about a decade ago.

"Exactly, Sir Leon. He also have a mole on his back, it's like a blemish against his pale skin," the queen added, the knight agreed, remembering the details she has said.

"Tell me, Sir Leon. How did our son end with the Queen's cousin's hands? Did the cardinal let him be adopted?" The king asked, growing more curious on how did their child lived his life. Sir Leon chose not to tell the story, but told them with all honesty that his information was obtained through years of investigation.

"The cardinal lost the prince when he was ambushed by the highwaymen. The child was taken afar, abandoned on the outskirts of the farthest town of the neighboring kingdom - Green Fields. It was then, he was taken by your cousin." Leon paced, hands waving in the air as if it helped him recalling the information he got through eleven years of searching. "The cardinal was accepted by the kingdom and was assigned in the church of Green Fields,"

"Does he know about my child?" The king asked.

Leon winced, "No, but he seemed to have questions with the child's identity as well, even he didn't put much of an effort to confirm his suspicions. As long as the war is existing, that signifies the absence of the prince," the scholar ended his explanation when the King and Queen rose from their seats and invited him to continue his tale after their dinner.

It was a challenge for Leon to have a good night sleep, albeit he was wished by the king to have a good night rest. The was surely safe, it was his real _home;_ he was in the palace secured by the guards. The thought of his niece with Len's family didn't bother him, though he was slightly thinking of bringing her to a physician to remove the cataracts on her eyes. He was disturbed by the thought of confirming the child to be the lost prince, while keeping the cardinal away from them, and without the other king bugging him. The cardinal was posing a serious threat to him.

Sir Leon turned from side to side. Albeit eyes closed, his mind is as alive as a nocturnal bird, thinking over and over again, as if he had forgotten a very important thing. He had spent ten years wandering in the opponent's territory in search of the Queen's lost child, and it was after three years that he settled in Green Fields and planned to give up his mission. He remembered how he focused in broadening his knowledge, until one day, a girl brought her a bottle of milk in the clocktower.

 _"Good day, sire. My mother wants me to give this bottle of milk for you. This is for free, she says."_ The girl had the same golden hair, slightly darker, with the _queen_. Her eyes were like the sky - much more like _his_ queen. He was puzzled and reluctant to accept, that might be poisoned. The possibility that someone had recognized him from the other kingdom couldn't be disregarded. _"She told me to tell you that she worked before, to the Queen. Her name is Neru, the lady-in-waiting,"_ right then, Leon remembered the Queen's cousin who was overthrown because of a simple mistake.

There was a rumored child found on the parcel farmed by the family of the Queen's cousin. It was a fair infant, merely a year old, who was crying ceaseless until the black dog sat with him. Leon sought for the boy, with hopes that it was the Queen's lost son, but when he arrived on the field, the people said that the boy was missing before other people had seen its face. The houses were distant from the neighborhood and no one could tell who took the child in it. However, the tables were turned and the villagers began asking Leon why was he interested to the child, when he, himself, was a bachelor.

 _"Because I am searching for a possible student I can raise by myself. I want a boy who can aid me with my works in the future,"_ his lies were easily believed by the townspeople. He looked like a noble, he spoke like one - there's no reason doubting his words. Sure, it could be weird to encounter a man uninterested in marrying but eager to find a child. But people accepted the fact that some intellectuals were incapable of having wives.

Leon lengthen his patience and taught the former lady-in-waiting's daughter instead, teaching her everything about reading and writing. Since the Fates were in favor of him, the girl unintentionally told him that she had a baby brother - the boy found in their parcel. _"Oh. Sir, don't tell my mother about this. Please? She told me not to tell anyone, because she doesn't want the church to take it. She said the priests will just make him a cleaner of the church,"_ Leon found this quite favorable, and he was not disappointed as the year progressed. When he saw the boy for the first time, Leon concluded that his facial features were both like the King and Queen. He needed to see the birthmark without being suspicious, thus, waiting for that time to occur naturally.

"I shall talk to Len's mother and confirm my inferences," Leon took a deep breath and snuggled to his pillows.

The breeze continued to rock them to sleep...with few exceptions. On the dried grasses laid, wide bluish eyes like a polar ice cap opened against the moonlight, though her world was unlit. She was static on her position, face against the high roof. There was a shifting by her side, she felt it through the grasses, on her right.

"Sir knight?" Her whisper was softer than the wind, wishing she wouldn't wake him if he's truly asleep. The movement repeated, she felt it again. Then, there was grumbling.

"Rei, call me Rei. Why aren't you asleep, lady Miku?"

"Call me by my name; let's be fair." She said, eyes still fixated to somewhere she couldn't see.

There was an audible sigh. The cool breeze slipped through her cotton dress and she shivered with that. "Fine. You can't sleep, can you?" Rei asked, facing the high roof, the triangular braces supporting the roof were suddenly an interesting thing to watch.

"I can't. I have never slept on hay," he chuckled with her response, glancing at her face to confirm whether she was serious or not.

"Then why did you push yourself in here, when Len willingly offered his bed for you?"

"Don't you see why? I believe we are all equal. I can do what you can, so why not?" She turned to face her left, putting her arms beneath her head. "Len is a wonderful person. The week I spent with him was fun. My uncle shows it not, but I can feel how much adoration he has for his sole student. Len is brilliant, imaginative and free."

"Len is someone you can't cage with the principles of this world. He wants to learn but he also wants to be boundless. He is really a bright boy," Rei smile amidst his talk, the memories of the days he spent with his friend and sister subsided. He would miss Len's works when he left Green Fields to train as a squire.

"Are you sure it is fine to leave Len? I understand that you have your goals, but, Len will miss you. That's something I can tell, he talks about you, a lot. From mornings when you milk the cows - I want to try that - until the days you'd help him building his works. Won't you miss him?" Miku inquired, innocence baffling her thoughts with selfishness. Maybe, she was just living in a world where she is too dependent. The talk was about her not Rei's departure. She couldn't survive without someone assisting her in everything.

"I am lying if I say no. Friends do miss each other. Friends want to live with one another, eternally. It seems like when with friends, it's just happiness drowning you. But it's not. It's not like that Miku. As you grow old, you'll realize, life is not just about being happy every day. If you open your eyes in reality, life is a survival. You need to live to continue. Continue to live. It will not revolve around happiness alone, you will know what I mean. The gap between us farmers and aristocrats is increasing in such rapid pace, we're being left out. When you grow old, you will feel no happiness as long as that gap exists." His golden eyes were shut as he began to feel the world through that darkness. "I will be back before I am blessed to be a knight, might be years from now - something I don't know."

"We can write letters - Len, I mean," Miku corrected herself and cuddled, the night was inviting her to take the journey to the dreamland. "Good night, Rei."

With his keen senses, Rei walked out of the barn when he felt that the two were really in a deep sleep. He took his place beneath the moonlit sky, studying how the stars seemed to fade when the moon is this bright. The cool wind played with the tall grasses, washing him refreshing thoughts. It was not quiet, the sound of the shushing wind was disturbing and relaxing. He closed his eyes, it was like listening to the waves of sea as it washes away the shore. The background noise continued until it became normal to Rei's ears, and soon, he found himself suspended in a light sleep.

"Maybe, I am selfish," he mused to himself, "because I never cared to look beneath Len's joyous smiles, I never asked what he really meant. Of course, everything has a deeper sense. But I never looked that way to him,"

The wind blew with gentleness.

 _"You are not."_

Rei opened his eyes and saw the blond sitting beside him. Len was looking at the moon, his eyes resembling the blue of the sky were filled with delight. His lips were tugged in a small smile as he remained staring at the lamp of the dark night.

"Rei is not selfish. He helped me building the things I could not do alone. He taught me how to stop thinking of stopping. He defined the meaning of _change_ and _dream_ to me - that these things are more than concepts. Rei is not selfish. He likes my sister a lot, but he wanted her happiness without openly protesting with her marriage. But I am sure, sister wouldn't take you seriously, she's a decade ahead of us." Len looked down at him and laughed. "Go and leave, if you say you will be back before the king pronounces you a knight, then Miku and I will wait. Maybe by that time, I have drafted a _really_ worthwhile project."

Rei shrugged and pretended that he wasn't affected by the sudden heart-to-heart talk Len spawned, closing his eyes. "Get inside before Miku realizes you left her." There was no response at all. The two remained under the night sky, minds blank. Words were lost and yet there was an understanding between them. Len watched the stars to twinkle, didn't forget to note that the nearer they were to the bright moon, they shine not - at least, not in a noticeable way. He wondered, if he and Rei were like that. Stars that do not shine because there's someone else brighter than them.

"She won't know. She can't see," Len laughed with his own comment, which received a chortle from the raven haired boy beside him. "I am kidding, don't tell her I said that." The blond stood and made his way back inside the barn.

Len was gone when Rei whispered, "silly." The sound of the wind came back to his senses, he didn't notice that the wind was out of the picture when he was with Len. As long as they are _boys,_ everything's just happiness I centered. But once they grow up, he was sure that he would forget this feeling. For himself, he spoke. For Len? He was clueless.


	6. Dreams

**A/N:** I shall gain a special skill that will enable me to bear the industriousness to reread my works before publishing. The fact that I am making a horrendous disturbance to your minds and eyes due to my (unintended) typos, sucks. It's like I don't know grammar rules (talking about such, I will never master that, yet.) Sorry. I am compelling my neurons to proofread this time.

Chapter 5.

Rei soaked his white feet in the canal of the field, the irrigation of the crops. The cold water massaged his protesting soles covered with dirt from running to catch the sunrise against the misty morning. He was magnetized to listen to two farmers weeding their corn crops, their silhouettes danced against Rei's amber eyes.

"The number of nobles being held up at gunpoint by highwaymen are increasing. Rumors say that these robbers are targeting people with connection to royalties," the woman held her basket so that her husband would place what he gathered from weeding, "I hope that they will not hold us if we pass by the tracks, they aren't interested with crops."

"Pray faithfully for that. But I think they really won't. Highwaymen are gentlemen, they respect people and they are like Robin Hood duplicated for countless times," the husband asserted, "maybe they have a message for the king to stop the war. Might be."

"Does the war concern them? They are mere robbers! What do they care for the kingdom?" The wife laughed, prancing her hands in the air. "That's ridiculous, they know nothing other than to scare people to give up all what they have and take their horses!"

"You know nothing about them. One day, if we will be nobles,"-Rei smirked and mentally told the husband that that won't ever happen-" you'll be held up and you'll say that they are as polite as the knights of the queen," the husband shrugged and walked away. The wife continued to stand for herself, calling highwaymen with insolent names.

Rei's damped feet walked against the grasses with the tears of the stars. The grasses were soft and cold and he was enjoying that feeling. The warming early sunlight shone against his back as he made his way to the barn. Len was there, his hair poking up, assisting Miku to come down and walk on the field. Rei laughed seeing Len still half asleep - almost stumbling on his own feet while trying to guide Miku. Shaking his head, Rei jogged towards the two and greeted them, "good morning!"

The blond stirred and tried looking at him, furrowing his eyes against the bright sun rising from Rei's back. "What a grand entrance," Len muttered and put Miku's hand on his shoulder, leading the way to his cow. "Good morning, Rei! Where were you from?" He yelled back, his bare feet connected with the grassy area. The wind blew with gentleness as Miku and Len made their way to the cow. Len's dog, however, was ahead them, sitting already beside the cattle with its tail wagging in wide angles, tongue shown out of its mouth. Len chortled with how the dog looked funny to him, and continued leading the way for Miku.

"The grasses are damp and cold." Miku mumbled. She walked barefoot as for Len's request. It was refreshing, she thought. How did these cold and wet grasses look if she could still see? Was the green she knew still that green, and was it the green she was imagining? Thoughts like these ran in her mind. Little things became too noticeable when it wasn't given much of an attention before. She wondered why was she like that.

Rei tapped Len's shoulder and walked with him, eyes squinting against the sun. A small smile was displayed on his pale lips as they made their way to the cattle munching on the grasses. He whistled to call the dog-which responded as soon as he did. "I've dipped my feet into the canal. It's cold and relaxing, you should have tried that." Rei told Len as the dog went barking on Rei as if asking the boy to command something to do.

"Ah, the moist of the grasses is good enough. Albeit not flowing like the irrigation," Len grinned and removed Miku's hand from his shoulder. The three walked together - Miku was merely following wherever Len's pull would bring her - in serenity. The morning sun radiated against them, heating up their fair skins and rumpled clothes with several dried grasses poking up. The air circulating was becoming warm but not too warm to stop them from going to the cow.

"I heard a couple talking about highwaymen," Rei commenced, smiling blankly to the cow. Len nodded, quite puzzled. So, he asked;

"What about them? What are they?"

"The people in fancy clothing who are holding up people in muddy tracks," Rei shrugged, "they are rumored to be after nobles - that is something definitely uncommon!"

"What's strange in there? Aren't robbers really after rich people?" Len laughed as they stopped in front the cow. "If they hold up farmers, they will get grasses."

"It's weird. They are particular, they want nobles known to have connections with the king." Rei lowered himself on the grasses to hide from the sun. The cow sheltered him with its shadow as he watched the blond release Miku's hand and sat with him. They both looked at the teal haired young lady as her expression turned searching. Rei was about to reach out for her when Len slapped his hand back and shushed him.

"Len!" Her voice was wavering as her arms stretched openly in the air. Locating him through the thin air? Really impossible. The calm face she always kept and the bright smile she always displayed were replaced with furrowing brows and a scowl. "Len, where are you? This isn't funny!" She began taking small steps towards a direction away from the two, each steps filled with doubt wherever it would lead her.

"Nobles. Kings. Poor people dressed in fancy. I don't care, Rei. These things don't concern me in the tiniest," the blond boy rose from his seat, his linen shirt swayed behind him as he ran after Miku, as quiet as a mouse. He grinned back to Rei before sneaking behind Miku and raised his hands above her shoulder. A cruel deception. "Boo!"

"Ah!" The young lady jerked and stirred, stumbling to her feet. She fell on the grasses and the dog ran and barked her to stand. "Len!" It was a painfully high pitched summoning of his name from a gentle lady he knew. He pulled her up and laughed softly, but didn't intend that to sound mocking. "What do you think you're doing? Leaving me like that in a sudden?"

"Giving you freedom," when his reason received another earsplitting 'what!' he added, "and chance to be confident of thy own walking," Rei laughed at him. "I didn't leave you, I was around," she was pulled to somewhere she didn't know again, but hearing a 'moo' from the cow spoiled the fun.

"It wasn't funny...! And thoughtful of you in a bit much, Len. Knowing that I am blind, you should have not done that!"

"It wasn't meant as a malicious trick. I wanted you to learn how to trust yourself, and me." Len grinned and placed her hand on the back of the cattle. Rise and fall she felt the cow breathing. "You should feel my hands as if I'm holding you, like how you feel the wind when you can't see it. I want you to feel my presence in my absence through this wonderful word, _trust."_ He smiled and watched her nameless annoyance fade away.

"Your little dirty deed shall never be forgotten by me until I get my eyes laid on you, Len the wicked!" Her statement made the raven haired boy on the ground laugh breathlessly. The laughter which irritated the blond boy continued for some what-seemed-to-be-as eternal seconds until Rei finally calmed down. There was a thick silence between the three; a pouting Len, a red-faced Miku, and a simpering Rei.

"What a title my little friend had received! Why don't we go to your house and get some bottles so Miku will be able to taste a fresh milk?" Rei asked, still trying hard to stop laughing, "Sir Len the Wicked?"

"Call me that way one more time and I will deliver you to these highwaymen. Right there you will find the real meaning of chivalry and politeness." The guilt has been stabbing Len for appearing too mischievous to the young lady. What he did is something unthought, it was of genuine intention still - even if the reason of such trick was thought lastly. The blond walked away to get what Rei asked without another word.

The hustling wind and the mooing of the cow colored the silence between the young lady standing beside the cow, and the raven haired boy seated near her without her knowledge. Warmth faded in a short while when the clouds hid the sun, making the wind feel cooler and relaxing. Rei's arms were stretched in the air as a tiring yawn escaped his lips. Even the sun was covered, it's still a lovely day.

"Rei?" Miku noticed his presence.

The boy rose from his seat and stood on the opposite side, eyes fixated on the vast vitality of the meadow before them. Swinging from east to west, those long stretches of green blades danced with the busy wind in a mellow pattern. It swished and moved, swift yet graceful. Rei continued to reflect how Len described the same scenery they were seeing for eleven years. He couldn't forget how Len called the movement of these grasses.

 _"It is a dance of time. Swish, sway, dance - you wouldn't know that so much time has passed by just following the flow of the wind."_

 _"They don't have the strength to counter the wind, do they? That's the fate of tall grasses." Rei tried explaining but that encouraged Len to express his ideas form more._

 _"Fate? I don't believe that such supernatural phenomenon thought to tie people down on a fixed place-bound as existent. These grasses are free and headless," Len grinned._

 _"Headless," Rei repeated, sarcasm slips through his tongue. "These things don't have heads or brains, right."_

 _"You state it right. They are not different with most of the people in this putrid place called kingdom, with the wind as the king and queen. These people are free but they move the way the king and queen wanted without noticing that they are being made to stay static - moving yet not forward," the blond laid on his back, patting the head of his puppy. "People are more than what they thought they are,"_

 _Rei watched him with skepticism, quite unsure what his friend meant. What he didn't get more is what Len said next._

Rei let the air flow in his lungs, breathing in the freshness of the air as he stood near Miku. It will be a nice silence if she sees the scenery, and she may understand that his silence means the enjoyment of the view. His eyes glowered at her as soon as the sun glared back on them. Her irides are covered with a weird whitish thing, moving unsteadily from side to side.

"I am right here, my lady. The beauty of the grasses swaying with the wind has enticed me that strong. I didn't mean to ignore your call."

"I do know that, Rei. I can hear how it move, the wind is telling me everything." Her smile was blinding, illuminating her white face and reddened cheeks bright. "I am grateful to have spent a day and night with you, Len and your farm life. It is a good place with good people, I want to come back here as often as I can."

"That remark made me glad. We are humbled to have a noble visiting us, thank you and you are very welcome. You can ask both Len and I if you want us to take you here or play kite in the clocktower's fields." Rei turned around when he heard the dog barking, running ahead of a panting Len who's carrying three bottles. He smiled briefly with the absentmindedly smiling young lady before running to the blond and helping him with the bottles.

Len's cheeks were red due to exhaustion, the short run made him feel like he was deprived of lungs and air. The bottles fell to Rei's arms as the raven haired boy collected them from him. "Mother and sister are talking about the highwaymen," he told Rei as they walked to Miku.

"They are a talk right now," Rei commented.

"Yes, but I'm still unconcerned for you told me that they are after nobles. I am no noble so why shall I bother about something unrelated to me?" Len shrugged and held his chin high, eyes settled on the silver linings of the clouds. "But if they speak for the side of the churls and serfs, I'll willingly help them,"

Rei looked at him surprisingly, a weird set of words came out of Len's mouth, "are you serious? You cannot even run a mile - or something shorter than that distance, why would you join highwaymen?" He wanted to laugh but it wasn't a joke.

"Yes, I've thought of that so I am abandoning of the said plan," Len grinned, "because I am the one who will put the lives of the farmers steps higher from this hierarchy of petty social classes," the blond's triumphant smile widened when he saw the tall grasses swaying, "and I will tell people that we are more than what they are."

A wave delight washed Rei's worries away. He wanted not for Len to be something or _someone_ he could never be. It might cause Len's own downfall and Rei would not want that. The blond went ahead him, escorting the lady again. Rei watched the two's merrymaking and just laughed on how foolish Len could be.


	7. Broken Dreams

The rays of the sun didn't reach the pastures. It was a cloudy day, big fat gray clouds piled up in the sky with their bottoms darkening. The wind was somewhat harsh but not strong enough to drift a cart away. There were people collecting their harvested crops brought out for sun drying and all were moving quick to shelter it from the possible downpour. It would not be a fine day.

Len walked in a hurry, more concerned in tucking in his linen shirt to his pants as he marched his way to the clocktower. When he woke up to this gloomy day, the first thing he heard was his mother's call for him to rise and bring the young miss a bottle of fresh cow's milk. Other than that mundane duty, his mom came to him and informed him that the girl personally asked for him and Rei - but Rei gave his apology, he has to attend forums with Madam Prima. So here he was, making his way to the clocktower as quick as he could, avoiding the possibility of showering under the rain.

The boy was crowded by the thought of his friend, Rei. The raven-boy never had left a day without telling him his business, but maybe when it comes to the fulfillment of his dreams, Rei was running errands. With a bottle of milk on his hand, and the other was fixing the ribbon of his hair, Len was contemplating whether he has done something to pave his dreams these past days. Unlike Rei, he couldn't qualify as hard working. Len sulked at the thought of him being tardy to achieve his dream for himself and the Green Fields.

He didn't notice that he was near the beautiful house of Sir Leon - if it weren't of the pleasant keys being played in the grand piano. She was playing today. The last days he spent with the young miss, he has forgotten how she liked to play instruments. Len's worries faded as he stood in the doorway and knocked, announcing his arrival.

"Good morning madam, I'm here for the young lady's aid."

"You don't have to say that every time you will go here, Len. I already know you," Clara, one of sir Leon's housekeepers, told him and let him in. With a brief smile, he entered the grand house. It was the same feeling he always felt, the guilt of walking on the shiny wooden floor with his dusty worn shoes. Miku was playing some composition that he usually hears from the church. "She's on the grand piano, find your way sir." Clara left him as she snatched the bottle of milk he has.

His mind was putting him much pressure now. It wasn't like he was about to meet someone he had not laid his eyes before, it was just... Even Miku, she is doing something to achieve her dreams. She is practicing her piano skills, he thought. And he, on the other hand, was relaxing more than ever. Relaxing as if he was a Don.

There he saw her, hair laid back like fine curtains falling. Her dress was simple, not petticoated, it was white and has popped sleeves leaving her white arms exposed. Her face was serene, a smile lits up her angelic smile as the sunlight falls on her perfectly. Miku looks like an alive painting for Len.

"I apologize for intruding your rehearsal, young miss." Len announced his own arrival. At an instant, the music stopped and Miku's serene smile became overjoyed. She even stood and faced the wrong direction. Len wanted to laugh, his smile was mischievous as he stealthily walked where she was facing.

"Len! You're finally here. Is Rei with you?" Her eyes were glistening, Len was sure with that. He knelt in front her and took her hand, placing a chaste kiss at the back of her hand before rising and assisting her back to her seat.

"I am sorry to tell but he left earlier to attend a forum with Madam Prima," Len stood beside her, "I myself was not able to meet him today." He watched her as she sat quietly, back resting against his stomach. "Is Sir Leon not around?"

"He left early for some business I don't know. However, he promised that he will bring me to a doctor," she felt him left her back as her side sunk, Len was beside her, speaking casually.

"Can they restore your sight?" he sounded more anticipated than she was, "that is a good news!'' he saw her smile saddened.

"My sight being restored, that's something we will know once I'm brought to a doctor. Why, Sir Len? Is my blindness a bad news?"

Not at all, Len thought. "Pardon me for my rudeness," Len mumbled. "Is restoring your sight your greatest dream?" he watched her rest her hands on the keys, pressing on keys making a sad melody.

"No," she said, a smile crushes his heart. "I was able to appreciate things when my sight was lost, even the mastery of harpsichord and piano came handy. I wanted to play for the King and Queen when I reach my eighteenth year, before I am to marry someone - truthfully, no one will take a hand of a blind." That is her greatest dream.

The melody continued, reminding Len how painful it is for Miku to speak of her doubt of the future. Nevertheless, she still does something to achieve her dreams. Her eyes fluttered like the wings of a butterfly as she went on playing, dreamy and never stopping to soar.

"Why did you wish me here, young miss?" It dawned to him his purpose of staying as her aid.

"I wish you to show me your works, Rei told me that you have a project constructed at the foot of the hill," the music stopped. "Bring me there, I want to see it,"

You can't even see, Len sighed. "I don't want to disappoint you, but I..."

"An imaginative person like you can never give an excuse. You are a student of my uncle, he must be as lively as you are during his youth. Please bring me there - Clara! Can you give me the parasol? Sir Len and I will take a stroll at the fields,"

"Lady Miku? Are you sure? The morning sun will not be this mild later?" Clara clearly stated her disagreement with the young lady's order because the weather outside never looked fair, nor warm.

"Sir Len will surely know how to attend me," she giggled then whispered to Len, "you have to pretend like you are my butler," she patted his shoulder and stood. Clara looked skeptically at Len as she gave him the parasol, mouthing a word to look after Miku.

It is an undeniable truth that to be able to succeed, one has to work hard, prepare and master a field. In Miku's case, despite being incapable to see, mastered piano at her age. Rei too, was no doubt a man of chivalry and strength. Len, at the bottom of his expectations, was nothing. He held the parasol close to Miku as she has an arm linked to his, walking against the uneven grassland. She was - as usual - silent, just smiling, looking straight ahead. Her plain view was depressing the young man, she looked so composed being able to achieve a skill so effortlessly.

The cry of birds flying above them caught Len's attention, wings flapping freely up there. It was his dream, experience freedom - unchained from inequality. The two of them did not exchange words as they made their way to the hillside. The harsh wind almost blew them down and bent their parasol but they still continued. Len tried persuading Miku to come back to the manor, but the high spirited young lady insisted to continue the walk.

"It will not be safe to stay at the foot of the hill once the storm comes, milady." Len wanted to go back in his mentor's house before the rain pour down, it is unlikely to roam around the fields and trudge on his hideout.

"Call me Miku, sir Len. And storm? What storm? Isn't it a normal windy day? Clara never mentioned this weather."

"That is clearly because she does not want you to go out. Now, here we are, two lads traveling by uneven landscape with these tall grasses-higher than us-whipping our skins as though we made a punishable mistake," Len closed the parasol and held her bare arms tightly and conducted her way, shielding her from the sharp blades of leaves greeting them. "I shall be blamed for taking you out."

There was a light chuckle from her as she tugged on his sleeves. She was an amusing entertainment to him, her blindness might be a ridiculous thing for him, but there were times she appears to have a fine eyesight. Len hurried the pace as they reached his hideout, the whirling wind was mad by that time.

"Are we here? Where's thine work?" She cheered, brushing away the strands of her fine hair turned frizzy and untidy. Len helped her brushing her hair with his fingers, but he paused when she frowned. "Len, you are not my valet. You do not have to concern with this little matter. I only asked you to pretend so Clara would allow us."

"I obliged myself, milady. I took you here so I shall take my responsibility."

"Quit talking as if you are someone trained to be a butler! I told you, call me by my name. Didn't I tell you that I do disapprove of the social classes?"

"Think what you wanted to think. Thy hair is as smooth as silk a while ago and I hate to see it this disarrayed. I am no one's attendant, I am giving you the title you serve, madame." Len finished combing her hair and escorted her some few more meters. The wooden doors of his hideout was closed, he never wanted to open that too for it contained nothing but failure. "Now, raise your hands across and keep quiet."

Miku did what she was told. There were no complaints from her and he watched her enjoying expression.

"What do you feel?" He asked.

"The wind and nothingness." Miku replied.

"That is my work in progress." A lonely smile was drawn on Len's lips as he gazed at the dancing corn field below them. It's like the sea, a golden sea. He has done nothing to achieve his dreams. He, soon, would lack resources and that would be the end of his aspiration. To be able to save this town, he thought, I shall make something to win the King's heart.

"And there's something else, Len." Miku said, grabbing his hands and holding them close to her. "These are your ideas. I can feel that your real work is somewhere hidden. Do you think that such eloquence will work on me? I know you are dejected about achieving nothing for your goals. Your ideas, it is as strong as this wind. It will carry you somewhere high,"

Len, still disappointed with himself, nodded and held back Miku's hands. "I do pray that you speak of it like a premonition,"

"I am sure, sir Len. I do not miss my -" Len pulled Miku with him inside his hideout when he heard two men talking and the thudding of horses. He warned Miku of making noises as they knelt on the ground. His eyes are peeping through the small hole of the wooden door and he saw two men dressed in fancy - a blond good looking man and the other was a white-haired man, both look courteous and kind.

"Gentleman, listen carefully. In this little town resides a lost prince that will help us speak to the kings. We shall find thy lad and win one of the two kingdoms as our ally." The blond one spoke as he gazed down at the view of small town of Green Fields.

"This town is a town for churls. How can a prince live a life very different from his throne?" The white-haired asked, doubtful of the blond's words. The sharp look the blond gave the white-haired man, the latter lad should have not asked at all.

"Sir Dell, I truly appreciate it if you will use your head before speaking. It is true that no prince will trade his throne with such poor town, therefore, he is not here because of his own will. Or probably, he doesn't even know that he is a prince, in the first place."

"Enlighten me, Sir Rinto. It confuses me still."

"Have you ever wondered why such feud with the neighboring kingdom lasted for a decade? There is a betrayal and breach of oath. After one of the kingdoms held no honesty with the treaty, the new born prince of one of the kingdoms was taken away. That ignited the ruthless war on the border," Sir Rinto, as he was called, stared at the hideout. As if Len felt like the nobleman saw him, he crawled away from the hole.

"How do you know all of this, Sir Rinto?"

There was silence at first, and the wind was the only thing Miku and Len heard. Light slipped through the gap, shining on the two. Sir Rinto towered over the two youngsters nestling on the ground and Len's face displayed nothing but courage to fight.

Even he is physically weak.

Sir Rinto smiled at the two children and said, "I was the aid of the traitor when he escaped. Today, I am the chieftain of the highwaymen."


	8. Two Fates

Chapter 7: Two Fates

The night never felt this anxious.

From his small room, Len waited for Rei to come. The unexpected rain fell hard at nightfall, soaking the young man on his way home. At least, he couldn't contain the knowledge he obtained from their brief encounter with the chieftain of the highwaymen, and he was decided to relay it to the aspiring knight. However, learning such history from a considerable defiant gentleman almost put his young life and his lady's dark one at stake. If it wasn't because of that _fact_...he and Miku could either be a hostage or their slaves.

The lightning struck the fields, illuminating the endless stretch of land for a brief moment. The young blond, cold and shivering, walked out of his room when he heard Rei's arrival after the lightning. The raven-haired boy was soaked with rain himself, his dark fringe fell straight at the tip of his nose, and his hair garter was loosen. The glee spreading on his youthful face told Len what story could his friend narrate for that stormy night.

"Len!" called Rei the moment he laid his eyes on the blond wrapped with his blanket. The lifeless expression of his comrade puzzled Rei as he approached him, the blond's gloomy demeanor dissolved Rei's good news. "I bet something bad happened."

There was no response at first other than Len's blue orbs boring through Rei's vibrant ones. The stand still was shattered by the thunder roaring, the wind sneaked through the door opened ajar. Candlelight flickered at that instance, and when the flame became stable, Len turned and went to his room.

"More than bad, Rei. More than bad."

Such brief statement from his fellow interested the still dripping wet young man, following the sullen blond. The way Len's face frowned at the orange burning light was a confirmation that it was, indeed, a bad day. Rei wished that Len's sour countenance was not a result of his project undone - or if so ever he continued it without Rei's help, but with no success - because that disappointed Rei as much.

"Pray do tell me what happened today," Rei spoke amid the rumbling noise of the windows being slapped by rain and wind. He occupied the seat near the doorway of Len's room and pulled over his wet linen shirt, grumbling his disgust with the sudden thunderstorm, even though _'sudden'_ is not appropriate to describe the present weather.

Len watched Rei as he dry himself with the cloth settled on the table adjacent to his seat. He wasn't mistaken of what he saw for his room was relatively small and the candlelight was more than enough to illuminate it. There was a dark blemish against Rei's pale skin, it was noticeable at his back. Like an ink blot on a clean paper, Len could not be mistaken. His face puckered and crinkled in dismissing the thoughts forming inside his head, and along the process, he did not notice that Rei was watching him wince to himself.

"Len-"

"Leave as soon as you can, Rei. Be a knight and come back here with glory, bringing the Queen's emblem on your flag." Len's eyes were not looking at Rei but the raven-haired boy could see that those eyes were fiery. "Highwaymen are posing a dangerous threat on both kingdoms."

A smile lit Rei's face, might be because he was not used to hear Len talk about highwaymen with seriousness. His sly smile soon faded as he asked, "what makes you say, Len? You are the last person I expect to tell me that."

"I met their chieftain this afternoon. I was with Miku."

Silence fell between them as Rei stared at Len in disbelief.

The heavy rain had ceased by the time Rei had his hair dried. He was sharing Len's bed as they sat in silence, watching the flickering shadows casted on the small wall. He was itching to hear Len's tale about the chieftain of the highwaymen, not because he was into this matter but this should concern him how Len was changed to be this downcast, or annoyed. Highwaymen were after aristocrats and Rei was sure that Len couldn't be mistaken as a noble, unless he was dressed his best when he was caught with Miku.

Rei was rather restless to hear Len out, he was not just verbally declaring his anticipation. And his increasing impatience was sensed by Len, so the tale began.

The good-looking young man, age might be as old as Sir Leon if Len was not mistaken with his assumption, knelt before them. His middle-length hair was caught in a black tie, a ribbon that was made of silk uncommon to this kingdom. The sneer displayed upon the lips Sir Rinto unnerved Len as the boy gripped Miku's arm, crawling away from the highwayman until their backs pressed on the pieces of wood Len failed to assemble.

"Good-day, youngsters. Are you, by any chance, eavesdropping on us? Do you know our names, therefore? Or shall we need to introduce ourselves properly?"

There was a little to no chance of escaping through the only door since it was blocked by the gentleman. Len remained quiet albeit he was nervous with this unlikely encounter. Sir Rinto's way of speech was laced with sinister that Len began to hate.

"My friend here with me is Sir Dell of the Cavaliers and I am Sir Rinto of Northern Pines."

"Northern Pines!" Miku exclaimed, excited after hearing that place. Her interjection was not expected by Len, at least, and that might complicate their already complicated situation. Highwaymen were people unknown to peasants, they could be peasants themselves, but whatever their motivation of holding up aristocrats, it should worry Len. Miku, after all, was a noble.

"The young lady is friendly. You should adapt that, fair lad." Sir Rinto smirked at Len. "Yes, milady. Does it ring a bell?"

Len watched Miku agree, but he wanted to stop her before she may blurt out the truth that her uncle-

"My uncle is from such place. I heard that it was from the other kingdom, he used to live there when he was younger."

It's too late to stop the chain of events. Len felt a lump building on his throat when the gentleman laughed and rose from being seated and exchanged a word or two with the white-haired man. When he looked back at the two youngsters, his smile was genuine and suggestive.

"I only know a single person from Northern Pines who's residing in this kingdom. Is he here in Green Fields?"

"No." Len butt in, pulling Miku up as he rose. He examined the possible run they will make to escape the highwayman before Sir Rinto may take Miku for a price. "I apologize for overhearing your conversation but mila-my sister and I have to get back in the manor before our guardian worry about our absence."

Sir Rinto was too dexterous for Len to outsmart. The gentleman's observation, too, amused Len. It seemed that Rinto was someone who lived in Green Fields long enough to familiarize himself with the manor.

"Ah! The manor! You are referring to Sir Leon of Northern Pines, aren't you? Then this young lady must be the rumored girl from the Australian colony? Are you Sir Leon's niece?"

Miku agreed.

"Then, who are you? My sister has only given birth to a girl." Sir Rinto turned to Len, his smile was rather scary. "Say, young miss," he turned back to the girl with cheerfulness, "give me a hug for I am your uncle as well."

Baffled with the sudden statement of the dangerous stranger before them, Len's grip on Miku's arm tightened, showing no intention of letting her go. The eerie utterances of Sir Rinto surely never disappointed the two with boredom. As if reading the quizzical looks on the children's faces, Sir Rinto stood some meters away from the two, obviously giving them the freedom to step out of what seems to be a warehouse. This whole encounter entertained the gentleman more than he imagined.

"I wonder who are thou, young man? Leon's student, I presume?"

Len took his steps with care, joining the highwayman as he watched the swaying fields before them. He didn't let his guard down as he tried examining the pathways that could show possible way back to manor, he wouldn't trust his running speed while tagging along with Miku, so he better sharpen his observations.

"Leon and I are brothers, that is so simple, my niece. He and I are brothers by birth, sons of the Duke of Northern Pines. Your mother, young miss, is our older sister. I wish to tell you the whole story why Leon and I end up in a town of churls, masquerading as people who we are not.

''We grew up with Prince Oliver, the current King of the neighboring Kingdom. The three of us were good friends, and classmates in the Academe. Leon was the smartest among us, and the Prince and I were mere average in terms of intellectual capacity. However, the King and I were better in the battlefield but that didn't mean that Leon was a weakling.

''When we are ten, a young miss was introduced to us, the daughter of the Earl of Nightingale. She has the beauty that even in the young age, she captivated us. None of us expressed our admiration to her, but Oliver and I were more intimate with her than Leon. To cut this tale short, when the time came that Oliver was crowned as the King, he chose the girl to be his Queen. But she refused with the King's proposal because she was bearing someone else's child. And the strong king who was not as rational as Leon - who was his right hand by that time, a knight serving him with loyalty - insisted to marry him.

''Everyone was surprised with the chosen lady's rejection. Who on earth would turn down the King's request, anyway? And so, her lover - a knight unknown to the king - was sent in the battle. The King chose another lady to marry him, and that was Leon's lover. The Knight loved his King more than his lover and he let the lady be taken as the King's bride. The Queen and the King's childhood friend gave birth at the same time by mere coincidence. Her highness gave birth a month early for the prince, but that didn't harm the new born royalty.

''The new born Prince was taken away by the cardinal, who was a spy from the other kingdom. Because of that action, King Oliver destroyed the established friendship with the other Kingdom. I, who just arrived after a year in the colony, was about to meet my young child when the cardinal took me with him, mixing up the two baskets were the Prince and my child were. I have no means of telling which child is mine. An accident happened along the escape and the cardinal was knocked out of his consciousness.

"The children were unharmed so I took them as far as I could, but amid the night, I was held up by the highwaymen on the muddy tracks. They took the children away from me, and here I stood, looking for both children. That will be all that you have to know." Sir Rinto pulled his horse with him, clearing the way for the two.

"Do you speak the truth?" Len asked, indecisive whether it is safe to cross the same path. Rinto's smile could be traced with bitterness as he climbed at the back of his horse. His sharp glare at Len caused uneasiness to the young blond.

"Young man, search for a child around your age with a mole at his back. That is the only way to identify the King's child. According to information we gathered, there were five children who were 'born' that night, two of them must be the babies from the next kingdom. I met the other two, and they were certainly not mine nor the King's prince. If you would cooperate with me, I would let this young miss and my brother in peace."

"Why would a brother threaten his sibling and his own niece? Why would you use the King's child when His Highness didn't do any harm to you?" Len spat, confused whatever was Sir Rinto's reason of doing these things.

"The Prince is the only way to meet my wife, young man." With that, Sir Rinto and Sir Dell left Miku alone at the foot of the hill. "The only way to regain a Knight's lost glory is to find the King's beloved possession." With that brief words, Sir Rinto and Sir Dell left the two at the foot of the hill.

Len almost dragged Miku with him as they ran back to the manor. This time, the rain fell and the pathways became muddy and hard to cross. The open field was more dangerous when the lightning and thunder played in the sky, so Len almost carried Miku all the way back. The hem of her dress was stained with the wet soil, and he knew that Clara would scold him when they reach the Clocktower.

"Isn't my uncle a nice man?"

"I suppose he is vicious and wicked, completely different with Sir Leon." Len pulled her up after stumbling on a bulged out root of an oak tree. Miku was too happy for this encounter, not realizing that her uncle was not going easy with was...unfortunate, Len thought.

He was almost out of breath when the mansion was in his vicinity. Their soaked clothes burdened him with the additional weight he has to carry, other than the loosened soil that almost have eaten them. And Miku, she was not featherweight as she seemed to be.

Len and Rei sat in silence for a whole minute. The cold air circulated in his room after Rin opened the windows. Len's older sister smiled at the two, but only Rei returned the smile. Her brother was sulking on his seat, pulling his blankets tighter around him albeit nobody was stealing it away. Rei, too, noticed such little action and thought that Len's encounter with the so-named Sir Rinto had perplexed Len. The older sister walked over to her brother and sat on the chair next to them, and asked:

"Is there a conflict between the two of you?"

"There is none, Rin." Rei answered quickly, Len just shrugged and buried his head on his folded knees. Understanding Rin's sad smile, Rei decided to leave his friend's bedroom with the words that he would leave tomorrow with Madam Prima..

"Is that the reason, Len? Don't you want Rei to become a knight?"

"No, Rin. That must be the best for him. He needs to leave this town as soon as possible."

It was so abstract for Rin, she couldn't understand what made Len sound like an old soul as he spoke those words. It was emotionally volatile when spoken, was it _determination_?

"Why, why as soon as possible?"

The candlelight died after that question was raised. Darkness succumbed the entire room with a deadly silence that entertained the thoughts inside Len's mind. Unreachable, impossible, powerful - those words played inside his head. Dreams, just what are they made of? Are these dreams, such as the pleasures of life, only meant for aristocrats?

"You didn't tell me that Rei, like his older brother, is an orphan."

Rin stared with astonishment on her younger brother as she watched his form lowering himself to lie on his bed. His blank hovered over him, concealing his face away from her, although his emotions were legible through his voice. Disdainful, Rin noticed that.

"Nobody aside from mother knows that." She explained.

"You also know that." He countered, voice thundered in the little space.

"That doesn't concern you,"

"It does, Rin. The Prince on the neighboring kingdom was missing for so long! It was him!"

Rin wanted to laugh with such erroneous conclusion Len was stating, but she, herself, wasn't sure if the _fact_ that she knew was truth itself. "What makes you say?"

"I spoke to a former knight. He was the chieftain of the highwaymen and he was in search of the Prince to get back in his land. Even Sir Leon was a knight in search of the Prince," with that Len ran out of his room without a word to his mother when he ran to her. Puzzled, his mom tried calling him back but Len trudged his way to hide in the barn house.

He wanted some peace of mind. The distance between him and Rei increased in a jiffy. Rei was away more than a mile. Even miles. His dreams were achievable, good fate awaits him. Rei got everything. Rei is a royal...he is a _prince._

Len hurled on the stack of hay as he bawled into tears. It depressed him how such tragic destiny had befallen on him, his only friend was a missing prince. Rei, if Sir Rinto would find out, would be taken away from him and in the Green Fields, he would be more than a knight. Len should be happy. Well, he _is_ happy. But if what he learned from the chieftain was true, if Sir Leon also found Rei... It would be the end of his learning.

"Am I too selfish to keep Rei by myself?" Len's inquiry was left unanswered.

Earlier, when he reached their small cabin amid the downpour, he accidentally overheard Rei's parents arguing. His mother was not in favor of Rei joining the squire, and his father was the opposite. They were engaged in a heated conversation that they did not notice their amplifying voices, roaring like the thunder in the dark skies.

"I will not let Rei depart from us! He is not going anywhere!"

"Rei is not ours to keep! You should know that time will come his parents will find us, they will take him away, and if he hide the truth more, he will be like our first son!"

What knife could wound his already bleeding heart after the possibility of Rei being the prince or the overthrown knight's son was unveiled? The dreams they dreamed, the oath that they would achieve it together, were all vanishing in the thin air. His hoarse voice echoed in the empty barn with his black dog watching him cry himself to death.

Rin and her mother sat in silence on their small dining table. Her mother predicted that the day of revelation will come, with Len and Rei's identities will be revealed to them. However, it amused her mother as well, on how Len formed such conclusions, given that she thought Len was the heir.

"I am quite bewildered myself with his reported utterances, Rin. Now that you mention that," her mom loosen the tie on her chin, letting her cap fall off her shoulders, blonde wavy hair laid back. "The Queen got the same dark hair as Rei. I, honestly speaking, hadn't seen the Prince when he was born. I assumed that the Prince inherited the King's complexion and now, I have no way to prove who is the royal blood among the two boys."

Rin watched the lamplight settled at the center of the table as she brought her fingertips together in deep thought. "There were two infants found that night; the one is with us, the other is with Al's. If there is only one Prince, why are there two baskets? Is it planned to avoid the reunion and keep the war fueled?"

Rin's mother sagged her shoulders as she untied her apron, searching for a possible answer to clear up the tangled confusion. Perhaps, it is the best choice to consult and tell Sir Leon what she knows. Smiling to enlighten the despondent mood inside the little cabin, the tired mother sat beside her grownup daughter. "I will talk to Sir Leon as soon as the rooster signal the sun rise."

The tall stone wall that separated the kingdom proper from the lands of serfs stood strong. Inside the kingdom lurked the group of highwaymen disguising as nobles. Their chieftain, Sir Rinto Holly - his title omitted - spent the night wandering around the train station. Hands clasped behind his back, his physique is as splendid as the border. The sneer painted on his lips was the first thing Sir Dell noticed.

"Sir Rinto, you seem so glad for tonight. Was it because of your unexpected encounter with the blond lad and your niece?"

"I can practically see myself regaining my right to set foot on my own land, Sir Dell. When that time comes, I will make sure to breakdown this kingdom of a fiend which caused this curse on my life." He gnarled as he glowered at the train that passed by them, his fringe was blown away - showing off his spirited eyes.

As if unconvinced with all he heard, Sir Dell declared his doubt with the tale told by his chieftain. Wavering, he asked, "do you speak the truth?"

Upon hearing the question, Rinto cringed and smirked. His bitter laughter somewhat terrified the other highwayman, making him more doubtful in the eyes of his accomplice. "That is what I wanted the blond lad to know."

"It is not all the truth then?"

"I spoke the truth, that is something for sure, Sir Dell."

"If the other kingdom's Prince is missing, why is this kingdom fighting back? They can surely talk about this little misunderstanding."

Sir Rinto raised a finger to silence the white-haired man. Their eyes met like clashing bulls, both mad and heated. There is something in the history unwritten, and commoners know nothing about that. "Two princes are missing. The prince of this place, and the prince of my former King."

This time, it was Sir Dell's turn to laugh triumphantly as though he heard some humorous statement from a person who lacked humor himself. "This kingdom never had a prince."

"That is what they wanted you to believe." Sir Rinto and Sir Dell walked away from the station when the people began to swarm their direction. "Their prince was abducted by the rebels - or the people forming the highwaymen today."


	9. Dear Wind

We should keep on moving to get the things we desire. The road maybe steep as it seems to be, and our dreams may look far, but we have to keep moving forward. There are times when it seems far yet it is so near. . . so near, and so we only need to be faithful with our dreams. Our dreams will never betray us, but the road that will lead us to it will do.

Rei was stranding before the fields. Everything is wet and sulking after the stormy night had passed. However, its aftermath - the cold breeze and the shy sun - is a satisfying scenery for the young raven-haired man. The sun was hiding behind the giant gray clouds left from last night's rage, its golden streak forbidden to shine against Rei's fair face. His departure will be in an hour, so indulging himself with the last glimpse of everything in Green Fields will be worthwhile.

'Good-bye, Green Fields. Good-bye, farm life. Good-bye to Rei the stable lad.'

As he stood there, dressed with his best dress shirt and trousers, he was excited to take his first step in fulfilling his dreams. To ride a horse and train with a sword or a gun, he was definitely on his way to an uphill path that would lead him to his actualization. To serve his kingdom, most importantly, was his main purpose. But before looking forward, he should keep his eyes what was in front of him, and that was Len. Future would be the concern of every individual but he should not lose sight of his present which included Len. Inside the pocket of his pants was a paper folded into four, confiding the words he would like to tell Len if only he was brave enough. But Rei knew it would hurt his best friend, and he never had the courage to make Len despondent.

He turned on his heel and walked towards the barn where he saw Len ran into last night. The blond must be in the middle of his wonderful dreams so Rei wanted to be as stealth as he could be. And so, he found the blond laying down on the stack of hay, shoulders heaving. His face wrote tranquility all over as his eyes remained closed. Len was still in a deep sleep.

Rei sat in front of Len, smiling like an overjoyed boy who found a treasure buried in his backyard. The moment of silence lasted for what seemed to be an eternity, until Len shifted to lay facing the high buttresses. The rooster cried its early morning call and Rei heard his departure time. He pulled out his letter and placed it beside Len's face so it would be the first thing he would see once he woke. Tapping the blond on his shoulder, Rei left the barn with his farewell whispered in the morning mist.

Two farm boys as they are known, each moved away from their present life. Despite the difference of how they colored their dreams, the important thing is that they are able to paint it with colors they desire.

The raven-haired farm boy ran towards the high road, eyes glistening at the sight of the familiar hansom from a distance. High-spirited, Rei looked back to his parents behind and waved them a goodbye. His mother was crying a lot, since last night she was, and he wanted to comfort her the last time. But as he stepped down, his father gestured him to go with a smile that Rei would never forget. The boy nodded and ran towards the horse-drawn carriage that would bring him closer to his dreams.

"Mother! Father! Please tell Len that I will be back, and we shall meet again!" He waved a hand and turned his back, continuing to move forward this time. . . and never turning his back.

 _"Fremd bin ich eingezogen,_

 _Fremd ziech ich wieder aus. . ."_

Len batted his eyes open when a sweet music rang his ears. A language unknown was manifested into an alluring song without any hints of what was its meaning. High buttresses came into view, blurry for a moment, and he recognized the similar structure he usually woke up to. He spent the night in the barn.

 _"Der Mai war mir gewogen,_

 _Mit manchem Blumenstrauss. . .'_

Len snapped his head to where the humming originated, and there was his fair lady patting the black dog's head. She was singing a song unsung to him, never heard, never known. Yet, that little fact wouldn't stop him to admire her. It was like when she played her piano or harpsichord, the same enticement captured him when she sang.

" Good day to you, Len. You are a heavy sleeper, are you not? But if I may suggest, you should rise and have breakfast with me. All is set in your place, your sister helped me out." Miku chattered, too jolly to start his morning.

"How do you know that I am awake, Lady Miku?" His sleepy voice made the young lady giggle, forgetting the manners taught to her by Clara. When she realized how ungraceful she became, she halted and regained her composure.

"I am a person deprived with the sense of sight. And people who lacked one of his senses, have his other senses empowered. It is easy to tell so, for your movements reached my ears through the snapping hay beneath you, and your breathing altered, and your snoring stopped and replaced with a morning groan."

Len stared at her as if confirming that she really is blind. She was blankly looking ahead, careless whether her companion was by her side. His dog was enjoying her hands on its head, as it blinked at Len. She surely had that image of blind noble.

"I do forget that you are at sometimes. Pardon my rudeness. Good-day to you, milady." He stood and caught sight of the piece of paper lying near his foot. The blond picked it up and read the scribble on it; it was from Rei. Len knew that Rei left already, for he was waken when the rooster cock-a-doodle-doo, witnessing Rei's retreating back. He was not aware of the letter he left for him. Keeping the letter in his pocket since he lost the vigour to see whatever his friend might have written there, he knelt in front Miku and asked her to have their breakfast by now.

Along their walk back to his place while Miku held on his arm, Len inquired about her presence in the barn, and why would his older sister help her setting their breakfast in _his_ place. As they walked pass by the fields, the sun was already up and shining with its brightness unfelt.

"Thy mother has showed up in the manor before the dawn and asked if I could spend the day with you. She told me that you were melancholic last night about Rei's departure, and I, someone indebted to you and your dear friend, obliged myself to show up and cheer you in my little way." She smiled and let go of his arm. She raised her hands across the air and enjoyed the sensation of the cold breeze blowing against them. Even though the outside of their manor was the wheat fields, she was rarely allowed to enjoy the breaking dawn and twilight in there. "What a wonderful morning! Dear wind, please carry away my friend's grievances, or if you cannot, let me share it with him, so he would remain positive in his outlook in life."

Her hands clasped at each other as she said those, eyes of peculiar shade of blue and whiteness glistened with bliss Len didn't know where was it from. Albeit of her sudden talk about it as though she sensed his woe, he was grateful to hear it from her. That made everything less sadder. He stretched out his hand to hold hers, startling her for a brief moment, and stood before her, pressing his forehead against her. The cold breeze blew again, and so, he uttered his favor to the wind as well.

"Dear wind, please let me share the happiness of this dame and help me dismiss this misery. Make her happiness mine so even if the world is dark, I still can see the bright side like her."

Her lips drew a smile as she heard him mumble those words, as if she was the wind, and quietly contained her bliss of being able to alleviate his crestfallen soul. They remained like that for a blissful minute, comforting themselves with each other's warm hands.

"I think we should get going." She sighed and gripped his hand and let it go, then ran her hands to hold on his arm.

"We shall. Excuse me for holding your hands with my untidy ones-"

"Len, I do not approve of how you state it. It is fine, I am fine. Let us begin the day and have our breakfast."

If there is something he truly admired about his Lady, that is her simplicity and humility.

"By the way, what do you call that strange song you are singing earlier?" He led her inside their little house, and yanked a seat for her. She spoke the truth when she said that the meal is ready, it is there.

"Don't you like it? It is a song thought to me by my mother in the South. It is called _Gute Nacht._ If I may recall it correctly, it is supposed to be a lullaby. In fact, _gute nacht_ means good night."

The two of them ate their breakfast in the empty house. Len's mother and sister were out of his vicinity, such absence puzzled him more. Why would they talk to Sir Leon this early morning? To think, his mother scarcely paid a visit for the scholar. She told Len that Sir Leon was someone she could not stand the stare, it was sharp and inquisitive-always looking beyond what the eyes could see, listening what could be heard more than words. He was lost in his thoughts and was only brought back when the dame squealed; the glass of milk spilled on her frilled dress.

"Milady!" He quickly ran to his room and brought out a dry cloth to dry Miku's drenched hands and neck, and entrusted her the cloth to dry her dress. "You are done with your meal, I can tell. We should get back to the manor so you could change into your clothes. Rise, milady, very quick."

His talking was shunned by a finger of her placed on his lips. She was flitting her eyes from corner to corner, its impression of the polar caps on the charted earth relived in his mind. "I have told you a thousand times already, _quit_ calling me with titles. We are the same and that will not change,"

"I may oblige with your request but I am more worried what other folks may say about me. I certainly do not want to give them a false impression that I am disrespecting you. Who am I when seated next to a noble woman? I am a mere son of a peasant-"

Her arms pulled him down to her; her chin rested on his shoulder. He was bent down to accommodate the young lady on her seat, and it was his first time to be embraced by a little miss of his age. Sometimes, he wondered whether his utterances were no more than a faux pas against himself. Their indifference was open and shut, and it was something he could not change - nor anyone could. Even if they establish this rule between themselves, the norms of the society would continue labeling such action as insolence.

"I know that you are more than a peasant. You are not a peasant beginning the day you studied with my uncle. Rei left this town to seek his fortune more than what Green Fields could give him; and you, you already found that even without leaving. You are a prodigy, my uncle told me. Your ideas are boundless, so why not let it soar? These hierarchy among people will soon fade, I can feel it. I know that you-yes, it is you, Len-you will bring that change. Believe in yourself." Miku's gentle hands patted his back. She was so delicate and kind, it sends Len to an almost breakdown.

"What makes you say all of these? Have you read my mind?" Len pulled her up and escorted her outside their house so she could change her clothes already. The feeling of the spilled milk gives is unpleasant, he knew enough.

"Unfortunately, reading minds is beyond man's capacity. Someone dear to you had told me to look after you, and prevent your heart from shattering. Rei is a nice friend." She dismissed his hand holding her arm and said, "pray do read Rei's letter and I will go back to the manor myself. A coachman was waiting for me. Let us meet later, Len." With that, she left at the trail of his black dog.

Len was left in his house, hesitant whether he would follow her counsel or not. The paper was still kept in his pocket, waiting to be unfolded and read. . . patient with Len's indecisive demeanor. He pondered about it, again and again, because he could for see himself riding a horse and chasing the train to tell Rei his reply, even if he never learned how to ride a horse by himself.

"I shall think of it again after a quick bath," closing the doors behind him, Len went straight to the bath to ease his clouded mind. There, he did not notice that he dozed off while pondering on the wooden tub.

"Good morning, Sir Leon." Len's mother curtseyed when Sir Leon entered the waiting room.

"Good morning to you, Madam Neru Marseilles. And to you too, miss Rin." The blond scholar slightly nodded his head to his visitors, his shoulder length hair followed his movement. "Pray do take your seats."

"I do not deserve the polite greeting anymore, sire. I am a peasant. I came here to confirm why Len behaved strangely last night, he spoke about the lost Prince of my kingdom." Neru bluntly said, sitting straight on the chair-her learned manners from being a part of the royal family still in tact.

Rin, on the other hand, was surprised how noble her mother appeared; it was a woman she had never seen on the fields or on the public market. The lady wondered what could their life be if her mother is still a part of the royal family, maybe she is not who she is or there can be no Rin at all.

Sir Leon sighed. "Since you spoke already, I will be true to you. Is Len the Queen's child?" The scholar watched as the former lady-in-waiting's grace fell. The daughter, too, turned whimsical. "I have my eyes on Len for some years already but I cannot confirm my presumption in fear of your denial."

"Len is not my son, even if by blood we are not bound, a mother will do anything to protect her child. Observing the circumstances, I know this will be the best for the Queen too. I admit I do not intend to confess to you the truth, until last night, Len told us the Rei is the lost Prince. Well, at least he did not tell that Rei was exactly the Prince but he knew that is friend was an orphan.

"That early morning when we found him, there were three babies found in different farms of Green Fields. Rei and Len were two of them. The news about the kingdom being attacked by a spy spread, and the Prince was lost. When I saw Len, I recognized his golden hair that resembled the King's features. His face was like the Queen. Right there I knew, he was the lost Prince. But when he spoke to Rin last night, I was not sure anymore. I was clueless with how did he know that Rei was an orphan." Neru warily wrinkled her apron beneath her palms as she narrated the truth to Sir Leon. The knight, on the other hand, remained calm as expected of the servants of the royals. He was about to speak when Clara, the head of the household, announced the entrance of the knight's niece.

"Good day, uncle." The accent she adapted from the Australian colony was evident. "Pardon me for my intrusion but I am curious if I will be sharing my breakfast with you and Len's mother?"

"Hardly that, I am having a serious conversation with Madam Neru. Please take your meal ahead of me."

"I am sorry. I know I should not butt in, but is this related to the lost Prince?"

"Clara, please bring Lady Miku out of this roo-"

"Excuse me, but can I take her to Len? Maybe you can dine with Len since he is left in our house, disheartened I bet, for Rei left already to train as a squire." Rin stood from her seat, eyeing the blind young miss. She saw Rei came to the manor before he left, and he probably exchanged a word or two with Miku. The cold knight sighed and gestured that they may go, and so, the blonde brought the noble girl with her.

When Rin and Miku was out of the manor, Sir Leon darted his eyes on the blonde seated across his room. Her face, quite weary compared some eleven years ago, did not change a lot. She wore the same expression royalties were expected to display when in front of public, but even if she held on that pretense, the wise knight and scholar could read all her worries.

"There were three, but the prince is only one. What makes Len tell you that his friend is the lost royalty? How can he tell?" Sir Leon walked back and forth across the room, his finger tapped on his chin in deep thought. He was sure that he never mentioned his real motive in residing in Green Fields to his student, but it was confusing. The war never concerned that spirited youth. Someone must have told him.

"How did he know that the Prince is missing? That was never told in public." Sir Leon and Neru shared inquisitive gazes. "Someone from the two kingdoms should have told him. Who could it be?"

The silence was broken when Clara walked in again, telling the home owner that he has a new visitor.

"Pardon me, Sir Leon. A fair man is here to visit you,"

"Who is he? Let him in." Leon couldn't believe who stood on his doorway. Fancy clothing, a musket kept at the side of waist, blond hair caught up-his lost brother, Rinto.

"My dear brother! How are you, Leon? It has been a while. Oh! Glad to see you again, Lady Neru. If I may comment, you've grown old. So, what are you saying again? Who told Len what?" Sir Rinto walked across the room, his steps graceful as he moved towards the large window. The shy sun was stepping out of the clouds. "If this Len is the blond lad with our niece, dear brother, then I am the person who asked his help to look for the lost Prince."

"This is not your affair, Rinto. The King and Queen are convinced that you are a traitor! What are you planning?" Leon grabbed his collar and pressed him against the window, afraid of the sinister he sensed from his own brother. "You are the chieftain of the highwaymen, you will not be able to get back in the kingdom!"

"Convinced, you say. Have you told them the truth? No. Fine. I only want a truce, brother. This will end if the princes are returned and-"

"Princes! How come princes? Your child and the prince are the only ones-"

"They are not! This kingdom's prince is stolen too. Do you not understand? That is the reason why this war will not stop. If Len is adopted, he can be one of the princes or my son." Rinto pushed Leon away and brushed off the wrinkles Leon made on his dress shirt. His triumphant smile was directed to Neru. "Where is the alleged prince, Lady Neru?"

"He has left Green Fields to be a squire."

"Who is Len?"

"I cannot tell." She stooped her head.

"Stop this, Rinto! If you want me to fetch your wife out of the Queenland, I will. Just do not interfere with-" Leon was not able to finish his say when Rinto drew out his musket. Rinto's gleaming smile disappeared after Leon mentioned his wife and his motherland.

"I am not a coward like you, Leon. Did you not tell me that I am someone stronger than you? Then let me fight for someone using my strength." His words stung like a bee to Leon's chest. Those were the words he spoke to convince Rinto to persuade his brother giving in with the King's demand to be a frontliner, which resulted to his misfortune.

His hand on Rinto's shoulder swung back to his side in defeat. "Yes, I told you that but I never meant it this way. Not against me, my brother. Leave the Queenland's prince to me and find your son. If you wish to have your wife here with you, I will retrieve her from-"

Slap! His brother's hand touched his face in the most unaffectionate way-a slap stronger than Leon's weakest sway of his sword-connected with his right cheek. Golden forelock drooped just above Leon's eyes, slowly turning his head to face his brother again.

That glare was immense and full of hatred, fiery and austere. "Thinking highly of you being a scholar and the King's right hand, you disappoint me with your unthought arrangements. You are a knight, so am I. Do you know how does it burden me to have my glory stained because of a crime I am not liable? Bringing my wife here in Portia will not put us up with good fortune. I am a highwayman and King Yohio will soon take action upon us when they discovered that it is the old thieves who stole their son!"

"That doesn't concern me. I am in service of King Oliver, and he alone. And that is a proposal of a brother to a brother." Leon turned his back from Rinto, wanting to end the senseless talk when he heard a click from behind.

Rinto's musket was raised level to Leon's head. "Pray do tell me where is the Prince of Queenland and I will pretend that you are not an enemy."

"After you told us about the long absence of the Prince of Portia, there is no assurance who is the prince. A nevus on his chest and a mole at his back were his identity. I will not hinder you finding King Oliver's child, that will help me after all. But I am telling you, using the Prince to find your way back will not help yo-"

Leon was unable to finish his warning when he dropped on the ground, shoulder wounded after a bullet grazed on it. Rinto was dazzled of the sudden gunfire, but when the glass walls shattered and a group of fancy-dressed young men barged in, he knew that these highwaymen moved on their own accord. He quickly ran to his brother, watching his face twist and crinkle in pain and called Neru to aid him to his carriage.

"Bring him within the walls and find a doctor! He should be treated soon before he ran out of blood for the next half of hour!" He told Neru and went back inside the manor, beating down the highwaymen robbing his brother's mansion.

Neru asked his coachman and Clara to do as what Rinto told them, only to be interrupted when the cart where the young miss was riding halted before them. Without a word, she was picked up by Neru and settled before the injured gentleman, and was asked to escort her uncle to a doctor in Hestia, a town inside the Kingdom. "Clara, look after them. May God bless you."

Neru ran out of the manor and rode Rin's horse. She dashed her way to her cabin and met Rin standing by the roadside. "Rin! Hurry young lady! The manor is ambushed by the thieves. Hurry up before they see us!"

Confused, she did not oblige soon, and instead asked, "Why? Why are you in a hurry? Len is safe in the cab-"

"Sir Rinto might be after Len!" Her mom yelled.

"Sir Rinto? Is he Len's real father?" This time, Rin ran after her mom's horse only to stop when she stopped and Len was standing opposite them, escorting a pony.

Neru and Rin were both astonished seeing the young blond standing before them. The paper he was holding was slid back inside his pocket as he climbed to the horse back. "Mother, what happened to the manor?"

"Len, have you heard us?"

"Mother, what happened to the manor? Is Lady Miku and Sir Leon fine? Are they hurt?" Len pulled his horse to turn his back to them.

"They are heading to the Hestia to find a doctor. Sir Leon is wounded-Len! Come back here!" His mother was not yet finished when Len dashed away, his pony ran swiftly away. He heard enough, he was like Rei and he could _be_ Sir Rinto's son and Miku's cousin, if so ever.

Nevertheless, hearing the truth did not make him ache a little.

 _Dearest Len,_

 _I am glad to spend my childhood with you. We promised to grow up together as we dreamed together, and I am now on my way there. I will be back as soon as I can and see you and Miku doing well._

 _I heard the truth from my parents that I was an orphan, and I was picked up with you. It did not offend me knowing the truth for that only meant that we were together ever since, were we not? We should be called basket-brothers if so. I hope it did not hurt you reading this, but when I came back, let us find our real families._

 _Truly yours,_

 _Rei._

 _P.S. tell Miku that she should take care of you while I am way. Do not be ridiculous to her. Learn the chivalry._

The pony skipped along the railway. The train was a little ahead him. He could see teal locks waving from an open window near the rear part of the train, and he did his best to catch them at least. Black smoke blew from the pipes of the train, darkening Len's vicinity.

"Len! Stop! Now!" Rin was behind him, almost near him, yelling that he would not be able to chase the train. But the hard-headed he was continued the run, shielding his nose with his sleeves against the dark smoke.

"Miku! Miku! Sir Leon!" His call was unheard against the clattering railway and roaring engines, attempts were in vain. His sister continued asking him to stop. "Miss Clara! Sir Tonio!" He insisted on shouting their names despite the augmenting distances.

"Len! Stop now! That is the end of the moor! You will-"

Len did not understand what she warned for he was right behind the train, until he felt his pony squirm beneath him. Water. There was water. The land was discontinued.

"Len!"

Down he fell from the cliff with his pony, and he eyed the train which went ahead of the railway that extended across two moors. He closed his eyes knowing it was his end, and he prayed that this running water beneath him would welcome him with a splash and not with rocks.

"Excuse my rudeness, sister. I should have listened to you."

The blue sky above him was stained with black smoke. Air tickled him as he fell, and he felt tranquility.

"I am very sorry."

 **A/N:**

Len died.

The end.

Just kidding. Honestly speaking, I hate my writing style. *buries my face with these papers* Next chapter will surprise you - or I am kidding myself?


	10. Nōnus Annus

_Green Fields, Portia, June 1827_

 _Dearest Lady Miku,_

 _My kind friend, we have learned Sir Leon's condition from a letter Clara sent us. If we can be of any help, pray do tell us. However, I fear that this letter is not only to sympathize Sir Leon's injuries. I wish not to surprise you with this news, but this happenstance did not occur so long after your departure. It followed your departure, Len chased your train after hearing from mother and I, that he was not a real brother. But danger was with him, he chased your train and fell off a cliff._

 _It has been a month that you are not back here in Green Fields. It has been a month since Len allegedly died. His body was found nowhere. It has been a month since the last reported incident involving the highwaymen. Green Fields is peaceful again. Please tell Sir Leon our regards._

 _Yours Respectfully,_

 _Rin Michaelson._

 _P. S. I have married a week ago, but it would be a lot better if you were to play in my wedding, and Len was there. Be well._

Many years have passed since that incident occurred in Green Fields. For an unknown reason, Sir Leon never went back neither to the farming town nor to the Kingdom of Portia. After he received the letter from Rin, a month after Len's alleged death, telling them about the accident befallen on him, the scholar insisted on moving to the next kingdom - England.

The young lady on her adolescence when she left Green Fields, was now a full grown woman of decorum and simplicity. When she was eighteen, her uncle wished to restore her sight with the aid of his fellow opthalmologist from Essex. Now, at the age of twenty, Miku was known as a witty noble niece of the Chancellor of the Englishmen.

"Come to think of it," Clara said as she fixed Miku's hair. That morning was one of the dull mornings she had, her sour face never smiled for almost nine years - with the exception of formal gatherings held in their new mansion. "It has been two years since you have your sight restored. If I may recall it correctly, you are incessant in conducting the operation on your eyes. What made you change your decision?"

Miku stared at her reflection, knitted brows unchanging. Her amiable smiles were forgotten along the course of time, perceiving the past years as a quick transition for change. She felt a furry friend lie beside her feet, Len's black dog was always with her. There should be one reason at all. "Nobody is left to color my world. I have no news about Rei's whereabouts, and Len is long gone. I suppose you understand my point, miss Clara?"

The attendant tied her hair back and smiled at her Lady's reflection, even if the mistress would not smile back. "No one could stand losing a good friend. You spent a brief time with that two stable lads, big dreamers are they, and such short time you had with them made you attached."

"I never had such good fellows who treated me so well in the colony. You may go, Clara." She dismissed her and remained seated in front the mirror.

Clara nodded a little and turned around to leave, but before she may close the door behind her, Miku clearly heard what she said. "The absence of those boys changed you a lot. I wish to talk to the amiable you, Mademoiselle."

When Miku was left in silence, she heaved a sigh and stooped low to pat the dog's head. It was the only memory Len left her, everything was so sudden for her. If she only knew that the moment she was sent by him back to the manor was the last time they could talk, what could have she told him?

"Little thing, do you miss your masters as much as I miss them?" But her question was answered by the panting of the dog. "I wish I could see Green Fields once more, pay a visit to Len's little shack, or meet Rei and witness if he has become a knight."

But the dog blinked at her and no response could be expected from the animal.

"If I knew it was the last time we would talk, what could have I possibly said? 'Let us meet later,' I would insist that message still. But when would that 'later' come? Is Len listening to me?" Her forsaken scowl drew on her lips, her hand stopped patting the dog's head as though it lost vigor. "That later would not come, of course."

She remembered how Tonio and Clara described Len and Rei to her. Len had the same flaxen hair with her uncle, and Rei had a dark hair, as dark as a coal. Len had the same eyes like hers, but his eyes were more vibrant. Rei had vibrant amber ones. Both were fair with cheeks reddening when exposed to sun. But even though these descriptions told her a lot, their faces were nothing more than messed up oil paints for her. Ambiguous, vague, how else could she put it in words?

Nine years was quick, one year to go and it is soon to be a decade. Gathering her skirt, she rose and walked to her window, opening it to breathe in the morning air. The sight of the colors of life saddened her, she wished to have this sense back so she could have at least seen the two stable lads with her when she was nine years younger. The noise of the thudding horses distracted her musing, and a horse drawn carriage stopped inside their lawn. Two young women in French gowns ran towards the door, and she knew that today would be an unpleasant day as well.

She dashed towards her door and locked it, the two ladies will bother her precious time. It is too early for their daily visit, and she cannot bring herself down there to face them. They make her every days mundane. Nonchalantly dull and uninteresting. Albeit she is grateful that these ladies never left her alone, they are complete opposites. Lily and Haku are aristocratic harebrained mistresses who value social status.

"Miku?" Her uncle knocked on her door, reminding her that she has to face her visitors. "Your dear friends are already here."

"Dear friends!" She exclaimed, pacing back and forth across her room with an exasperated expression. "Dear friends, you say uncle? Pardon me for my unladylike manner, but how can I call those two 'dear'? I sent a messenger last night to tell them that I do not feel well to meet them today! Today is the ninth year of Len's-"

"Miku. I hope you understand that I do not want his name to be mentioned in this house. Unless I prove his death true, we can talk about him." Her uncle became less spirited after Len's death and when they failed to trace where could have this Madam Prima brought Rei to train.

"I do not believe that someone can survive that cliff, uncle. With all respect, let us accept his-"

"The Queen and King will not be glad to hear these kind of reports, Miku. Do you not wish to see Len alive? Or Rei as a successful knight? Now that you have known why I am residing outside Queenland, are you not supposed to help me find those two possible lost princes?" She heard his footsteps to faint, and it was not so long that he had gone. Sir Leon could have descended down stairs.

She slumped on her bed with the corners of her mouth pulled in a frown, her tears held back. She wanted to see the two, of course. She badly wanted to see them. But it could not be helped, she was powerless and voiceless against her uncle. Glancing back at her reflection, her emotions were gone. Her face, it was plain and sour again.

"My friend," she looked down on her sleeping dog, "promise me that you will not litter my room until this day is over." Her gray shawl was wrapped around her shoulders, complimenting her black partlet and floor-length skirt. "I will clear up to those two how disgusted am I with this kind of arrangement! It is like I never have a say in anything!"

Stomping downstairs, she saw her guests exchanging lighthearted talks with her handsome uncle, sipping on their tea like every other day. Sir Leon turned to look at her direction, and howbeit blood-related, she still gave him her disapproval of this whole interaction.

"I completely do not understand how you, girls, care less about how I feel." Miku expressed coldly.

Laughing before answering, Lily, the one with blonde wavy hair, chirped, "you do not look like you are not fine! Your brows cock mightily!"

She was slapped by her sister, as the older lady commented, "it is my suggestion to pay you a visit. I thought we can cheer you up, especially this event tonight. Your kind uncle had given his permission already."

"Uncle!" Miku scurried to her uncle in disbelief, "without my consent!"

"You deserve some fun. It has been a decade since I saw you enjoy, after those two lads. Suit yourself, Lady Miku. And if you will allow me, ladies, I have a busy day waiting ahead. Have a good day." Leon picked up his hat and bowed to his visitors lightly, then disappeared from the front door.

Miku slumped on a couch with her arms crossed, glaring at the two ladies from the opposite seat. She wished to spend this day reminiscing about her dear friends during her dark days, but it was such a disappointment that her uncle could not appreciate her tradition.

"Say, Miku. Prepare for to-night, have a mask with you and wear your best dress! There will be a masquerade ball in the town!" Lily cheered, rising from her seat and clasping Miku's hand. The stubborn lady slapped it away.

"I do not remember agreeing with such kind of petty funfair." Miku glowered at the blonde. "I thought you understood how important this day to me! You are impossible!"

"Funfair? What is this lady talking about, sister?" Lily chuckled gracefully and walked back to her more composed older sister. "We are talking about the gathering among people in masks! It is like a party for all classes, who knows, as long as you are wearing a mask! And I am positive that I can find my future husband in there! It is rumored that the new family in town will hold it."

"Silly! Silly! Truly nonsensical! I do not wish to marry!" Miku yelled, about to run upstairs but Lily stopped her.

"Pardon, fair lady? How old are you?" Mockery, Lily's question is mockery.

"Twenty!"

"Twenty! Twenty and still deprived of a lover! What future awaits for you-"

"I will appreciate it if you will shut your nosy mouth! My affairs and decisions have nothing to do with you, and it is not like I will be an old maid. And being an old maid does not sound bad too," Miku ranted while being dragged towards the quiet eldest lady in the room, Haku.

The white-haired lady smirked against her cup of tea, eyes looked at Miku suggestively. "But the best musicians of Oxford and Cambridge will come to-night to perform. You want to miss them, I see." Haku brought down the cup with a sneer.

"Bribe!" Miku protested.

"This woman is losing her chances to meet the fair knights from Portia, too. I heard there is a knight known for his amber eyes! A strong knight! A perfect gentleman! He is called Rei, you know him, do you not?" Lily clapped at her back and chuckled-that wicked chuckle, and stood behind her sister's seat.

"Tut, chances wasted. We thought you were looking for that boy in your past place, we thought we could lend a hand. But since you refused, Lily and I would-"

"I will see the musicians! Fine!" Miku turned around and walked upstairs, the ladies were left roaring in laughter at the reception area. "Do not leave yet, Beryls. You will help me finding that nonsensical mask!"

Miku disappeared from the flight of stairs, while Lily continued laughing. "Miku uses 'nonsensical' a lot,"

"She expresses herself through that word. There are things she find insignificant at all. Thanks to that young man from Portia for spreading the papers of that masquerade ball. Have you noticed how he looked at our Ring?"

The blonde smiled at her sister, "yes! Is he named Lui? I heard he is a student in Cambridge."

"Father would like Ring to marry someone from Cambridge! But she is still eighteen?"

"Harebrained! Ring could marry if she wished to."

Stomping echoed and Miku came out of the shadows wearing a hat tied on her chin. "Clara! I am leaving!"

Miku and her friends rode the hansom and dashed away from Selbst manor.

The group of knights who recently visited the King stopped at the market of Essex. The King's right hand, more like King Yohio of Portia's Lancelot, Rei, dismissed his knights to take their off to unwind until they consumed all night.

Rei, taller than he used to be, stood in front an inn he wished to spend the night, until a blond man of his age handed him a letter about the masquerade ball coming to town. Ignorant of what masquerade balls could be,-since he has been into battles all the while-he called back the young man and asked, "excuse me, what could this be?"

"I see," the young man smiled brilliantly, "it is a masquerade ball where people come to gather and do whatever they want, with their masks on to conceal identity. You must be foreign to this land, sir?"

"I surely am." Rei admitted. "Thank you."

"I am looking forward to seeing you, sire. I will be performing with other musicians. It is a feast organized by my father to celebrate my admission to Cambridge."

"I will be glad to see that; looking forward for your performance to-night. Farewell." Rei lifted his hat a little and entered the inn, while the blond man rode his bike away.

When Rei was given his room, he collapsed against the bed. When was the last time he had his back laid against a real bed? For the past years, their journeys seemed to appear unending. The battle against Queenland would not end at all. After being pronounced as a knight, and capturing the King's heart easily, Rei was surely living his dreams now. However, he never felt complete.

Staring blankly at the wooden cobwebbed ceiling, he spoke, "I have not seen Green Fields beginning the day I left. Well, there is no reason why go back. The one I want to protect most is . . ."

His memories with Len during their youthful days, where Len would run along his dog and so on . . . it all flashed back to Rei as he closed his eyes. Those golden locks, those blue eyes, those unexpected orations of a dreamer. . .

". . . is gone," Rei rolled over to face the wall and succumbed to slumber. His body ached to have some rest.

Miku stood impatiently outside the hat shop Lily and Haku entered. Her shawl draping on her shoulder earlier, was now on her head even though she was wearing a hat already. Narrowing her eyes once in a while, and turning around to avoid the shiny streaks of the sun, Miku never liked daylight. At least, it was not ' _too healthy'_ if she would stay longer.

"Miss Beryl and Miss Beryl!" She exclaimed as the two went out of the hat shop laughing, handing her a paper bag. "What took you so long? I wanted to have my midday rest in Selbst. The sun is too unfriendly," She rushed downstairs and went straight inside the hansom, ignoring the hand the coachman offered.

"Miss Raleigh?" Haku shot her a skeptical look, unpleased with her rudeness and impatience. "I believe we deserve a 'thank you' instead of that childish behavior."

"This is not childish-"

"You are totally mean." Haku corrected and moved towards the window as Lily sat by her side. They sat face to face with the scowling lady and the hansom moved. "We rummaged the shop to find simplest mask you wished for! You will not even look like an attractive lady with that!"

"It is not good for me to stay long with this brightness." Seated with her arms crossed against her chest, Miku sighed.

"Is that the reason why is your shawl on your hat?" Lily grinned.

"This is something not funny, Lily. We will have our midday dinner at mother's restaurant. And while we are still here, our Lady Miku shall learn the manners her past governesses failed to tell her." Haku, the disciplinarian she was, highly disapprove of defying the social norms. She always ran to Miku's inappropriate demeanor in public, considering such behavior a result of her 'lack of socialization'. However, they only met Miku months after her sight was restored.

"I find it quite unnecessary for you, Lady Miku, to complain since it is your request to go out and purchase a mask. Have you forgotten?" It all fired back to the impatient lady.

Miku was always hardheaded. She refused to follow everything dictated to her, everything she had to do and say when in front of people. If she would be asked, she would not wear corsets and stockings and layers of kirtles and farthingales, for all of it made her feel discomfort. She leaned against her seat and watched the people of lower class walk along the streets, their backs bent in carrying things they have to sell.

"Halt here, mister coachman!" Miku yelled ungracefully, making the Beryls cringe with her high-pitched voice. The carriage eventually stopped and the lady sprang out of it, grace forgotten as she landed on her two feet. "I wish to have a stroll around the Park, Miss Beryl and Miss Beryl," she curtseyed at the two, "and I wish to do it privately. Good day, ladies."

Selbst manor, she wished to get there as soon as possible. But given the circumstances, she would rather walk home than endure Lady Haku's lecture or any sort of lesson Miku was not interested to listen.

Miku turned around and pulled her shawl closer to her eyes, the bright high noon never felt pleasant. Other than the fact that it was a normal summer day, she generally dislike excessive sunlight. Running towards a shady grove beside the Park, she lifted her skirt that encircled her toes, then ran breathlessly.

The Park was filled with couples, probably engaged because most were intimate in public, and she felt rather awkward to spend her day break alone. But dining with the Beryls was not a good idea as well, Haku would emphasize how ill-mannered Miku has been-and Miku knew enough of it, of course. Being mean to both Beryls would drive them away, so Miku could spend her afternoon tea with tranquility.

'Huff!'

Being lost in her thoughts, she crashed against someone and stumbled backwards. If it were not because of those arms who held her in place, she could have fallen on the ground. Her shawl fell off from her head, and her hat fell at her back. The sun shining through the leaves made her eyes squint.

"Milady, are you fine?" The gentleman asked, still assisting her as she wobbly stood on her own.

"I am . . . my eyes," she blinked repeatedly until her sight was vivid again, and looked back to pick up her shawl-but it was taken by the gentleman who assisted her. He politely gave it to her with a smile. "Thank you," she said.

"You keep squinting your eyes," he said and grinned gorgeously. "Are you sure that you're alright?" He removed his hat and his tousled dark blond hair fell above his eyes. This hair color was darker than Lily's, but nonetheless it looked equally fair and very noble.

"Lui! Ye clahthead! Stop blethering-thee keep on using contractions. We are not in Portia." A taller blond approached the gentleman who helped her, his hair was fairer and his eyes were different with the first gentleman. His was sharp and intellectual, inquisitive and toothsome. "By gum! By gum! Art ye courtin' a noble from Essex without her chaperone! How ungentlemanly!"

"Just like Lily," Miku thought and straightened her crumpled sleeves.

The man who helped her flustered and turned around to punch the guy's arm and glared, whispering aloud, "Brother! Ye dussent speak about thy brother so badly in front an English woman! Ah am courtin' no one!"

"Stop making excuses, father is looking for you." In all of a sudden, the taller blond straightened his accent and lifted his hat towards Miku and spoke, "may we invite you and your family to-night at Mellow manor?" He held out an invitation to her and smiled.

Miku held the invitation close to her and watched the two blonds walk away, the smaller one kept on ranting about the disgrace his brother caused. Baffled, she shook her head and tied back her shawl below her chin and left.

"Those blond men looked uncommon," she mused and walked further the footpath. "Or is the right word 'unfamiliar'? They are probably new comers? They spoke differently when it is just the two of them." Her feet stop moving when two men talking passed by her, and she happened to overhear Rei's name from their conversation.

 _"He is in the Old Oak Inn, isn't he?"_

 _"Sir Rei wants to rest, don't bother coming!"_

"Excuse me," she called; the two middle-aged men looked at her blankly, " . . _. sire,_ but have you mentioned _'Rei'_? Pardon me for listening to your talk, but is this _'Rei'_ a knight from Portia?" She asked, hoping and praying that these men would tell the truth.

"He is. Are you an acquaintance?"

Without an answer she turned her back and dashed towards the outskirts of Essex where the Old Oak was. Hiding from the harmful rays of sun by running underneath the trees' shades, Miku hastened her pace to reach the said inn. But before she could cross the street and find Rei, a hansom halted in front her. The door opened and Haku dragged her inside against her will.

Interrupted. Again and again. Miku scowled like a mad cow as the two Beryls glowered at her. It was an unlikely incident to stumble on the same road with these two ladies, especially when Rei was just a street away. No matter how she tried explaining to them that her friend from Portia was there, they would not let her go.

'Meeting him can wait,' they argued. But what was Miku waiting for? She could not possibly wait to see him for the first time. She hoped badly to see him and Len, for her sight was imperil. Her doctor told her about this but it did not dawn to her that it was coming so soon. Now that Len was gone, maybe seeing Rei could not wait anymore.

'He is attending the ball,' Haku informed as they entered the Selbst lawn. 'Sir Lui told us that the knights were given invitations. The whole town could come to-night!'

"Such big audience assures not my attendance," Miku grumbled as she climbed down, only to be scolded by Haku with her ill utterances. The murderous look on Haku's eyes warned Miku not to bark objections. At the end of the day, everything Haku says is final.

"You personally have an invitation while we are invited only by word! Do not complain and just come along. We will pick you up by nine, and Sir Leon shall accompany you to the ball." Haku cocked her brow but made no intimidation to the stubborn lady of Selbst manor.

Miku looked at the rectangular paper she was clutching, then remembered that two blonds who gave it to her when she almost stumbled on the Park. But such kind of news needed not to be told to the Beryls. If they learned that she crashed to a gentleman-never-met, Haku would began lecturing her that she should never speak to a man alone in public, unless introduced by a mutual friend.

 _Decorum_ , _decorum_ , Miku hated _decorum_! It was no more than set of rules made to please people of higher classes, of course. But if all would act the same, peasants, bourgeoise, and aristocrats would never be estranged from each other. She detested social classes next to decorum.

"You want to take it? Two fair men I crossed paths in the Park handed it to me. Maybe they recognized me as Sir Leon's niece? The Chancellor, of course." Miku shrugged and extended it to the Beryls up to the hansom, only to be stared with daggers by the older Beryl. "You can take it, for all I care!"

"You should not give invitations away! Mister coachman, we shall take our leave and come back here half an hour before nine." Lily slammed the door closed grinned at Miku, and they left the lawn just like that.

The lady rushed inside the house with her shoulders sagged. The heat, the brightness and the awkward couples made her feel worn out. This place never felt like home, and she wished to go back once more in Green Fields-where the wind was cool and the people were friendly, but she could not set foot again. Sir Leon spoke of it once, that the war broke beyond the borders of two kingdoms. It worried her since Len's mother and sister could be still residing in the same town. What would happen to them?

Her shawl dropped on the stool with her hat and mask, and she collapsed on the bigger couch while groaning audibly. Clara walked out of the doorway from the study room and eyed Miku disapprovingly.

"What could have caused the sour lady to groan disgustingly?" Clara asked.

"I wish to see the painter, Clara. I want to talk to him." The Lady requested, eyes still shut tight.

"Slouching like that is unbecoming of a lady, Mademoiselle." The attendant remarked and turned around, only to be stopped by the complaining voice of the young mistress. "Young man, Gakupo, is busy talking to someone."

"Can we forget decorum even for a second? I am tired of everything and everyone, and I only wish to live normally bound not with this confirmation of societal norms!-Tell him to meet me later."

"You shan't throw tantrums after a simple reminder, Mademoiselle. What will your uncles say if they hear you."

Clara vanished from the family room, leaving Miku surprised. What could have Clara meant with 'uncles' when she clearly had Sir Leon as her uncle? But was that a big deal? No. Miku shrugged her attendant's remark and picked up her things to spend the rest of the day in her room.

Miku never cared what Sir Leon would say.

'Do not _'um'_ Miku, it is unbecoming of a lady,'

'Do not play too long! Your dress will be stained with the soil!'

'You can just watch Clara water the flowers, it is her job.'

'You should play violin too. Ladies should be proficient with music.'

'You will study Literature and Arts in Cambridge. You should continue what your mother started.'

For all the years, Miku followed everything Sir Leon told her. She was an obedient niece to her uncle, but the truth was, she never cared. She would comply to his requests but she never internalized what would she benefit from doing all of these. Her image was shaped after the ideal image of a woman in a society, but she was only _shaped_. Bearing _that_ character would make her someone else, someone else but not Miku Raleigh of Southern Colony.

Call her obstinate, she would not care. Cage her with these rules, however, one could not cage her free mind. Just like the wind that could carry away her distate, she was sure that she would find a way to bring herself away from these rules.

The door slammed behind her as she jumped on her bed, face buried against her pillow. Len's dog was still asleep on its place. The midday breeze sneaked through her open window; the wind laughed like a kind gentleman. Speaking laced with politeness and intellect, the wind whispered her the liberal ideas that would break through the mundane kind of living.

"All shall be equal," it mumbled against her ears, faint like a whisper. "Monarchy slowly loses its power,"

Propping up her shoulders so she could look at the sky, her brows crinkled with the weird ideas the wind was telling her. "Am I that tired, or am I imagining things?"

"Doff the main powers and distribute it equally, through that we could have equality, brother. Monarchs art barmpots, as gormless as peasants who thought they art powerless. They art numerous, royalties art few. If they aren't flayed with the few, Portia's exploited peasants could have been freed long before,"

Rising from her bed, Miku stood from her chair and looked at her window. No one was on the next balcony-which was her uncle's room. Puzzled, she stirred and tried searching for the speaker-who is clearly not the wind-but no soul could be seen. "Is anyone up here?"

The trees rustled but the voice was not heard anymore.

She stared at the trees around the manor and at the empty green lawn, watching the flowers dance with the soft wind. Her chin rested on her arms resting on the windowsill. She was about to leave when the same voice murmured a revolutionary idea.

"Industrial revolution will began in Portia and will spread out in England. Monarchy will breakdown." Then silence. "And to you, fair lady. It is against the convention to listen to private talks."

Miku looked up and caught a blue violet, but seen never a glimpse of the speaker. A blue violet? On what purpose? Hopping down the chair, she ran out of her room and dashed down the flight of stairs to find Clara at the backyard. The attendant was watering the flowerbeds with scornful face.

"Clara! Clara!"

"Milady! Look at you! There is a pail of-"

"Wha-ah!" Miku crashed on the ground after stumbling on the pail of water, the violet she was holding tore into shreds. "My flower!" Clara quickly helped her up and dusted off the lady's skirt.

"Clara! Have you come across a gentleman in here? Someone dropped a violet from the room above mine. Do we have visitors in here?"

"Sir Leon have talked with Sir Rinto. I am surprised to see the gentleman after the incident nine years ago. But I am more surprised that Sir Leon is not mad,"

"Uncle Rinto!" Miku turned around to run back inside the manor, but yelled back to Clara, "the violet, Clara! Pick it up!"

She ran breathlessly towards the study room with her skirt pulled up to give her feet freedom to run, and she dashed all the way. Without asking permission to enter, she barged inside the study room and saw two blonds seated on opposite couches. The first one was her uncle Leon, whose hair was shoulder length; and the other one was a handsome blond with his hair caught up but still reaching amid his back.

"What does a blue violet mean, uncle Leon?" Miku went straight to her known uncle as if the other was not present. "In the language of flowers, what does it stand for? Is it something about liberalism? Freedom? Or something like that? Tyranny, is it probable?"

Perched on a stool, Leon out laughed his niece's query as he motioned her to seat on the other stool. Though unexpected, Sir Rinto (who, she assumed, was the other handsome blond on the couch) chorused with Leon's laughter.

"At least, do not express your intuitions directly and loudly, my dear. Blue violets mean ' _watchfulness, faithfulness,_ and _I will always be true._ ' What ma-"

Miku was alarmed and shot Sir Rinto sharp glares, as she stood and walked in front him, "are you threatening your own niece just because I overheard your conversation? That is horrible, uncle Rinto! Why would you be so wary of me after hearing a few whimsical idea-"

"Hush, milady. I assure you, it wasn't me. I have a lucky guess to whom those whimsical ideas are from-blue violets included." Sir Rinto smiled at her and stood. He was so tall, taller than Leon perchance, as he walked around the room with grace and physique that was highly noble. "And for to-night's celebration, you'll hear plenty of it."

Even if I put a lot of "Haha"s and stuff, my mood is not alleviated at all. :/

To **zhane17, euls** and **XzatsuneX** \- thanks for leaving your reviews, at least I know that some fellas are still reading this fic. Thank you, thank you!


	11. The Blond Visitor

_The Classic Tale of You and Me:_

 _The Blond Visitor_

 _Struck with horror, Miku shed tears after Clara read the letter Rin Michaelson sent her. Of all news, why the bad ones should be told to her?_

 _'Len was dead. '_

 _'He fell from a cliff after chasing your train.'_

 _'His body was not yet found.'_

 _Unable to say a thing, the young lady snuggled to her attendant, and Clara wrapped her arms around the young aristocrat's petite frame. The blind niece of the scholar was hurt to hear this news, as much as it hurt her uncle. Clara watched the young miss to cry against her apron, sobbing like a child - but she is still a child - and lamenting after losing a precious friend._

 _Clara was affected too. She spent a lot of time with the young lad of Green Fields and witnessed how clever he was. He was a good student to Sir Leon, no wonder why the scholar was so intimate with the young fella. Even before Miku arrived, Len was a cheerful bright mind who enjoyed small things and little discoveries._

 _Clara did not notice how much time had passed while reminiscing, for the young miss cried herself to sleep, her teal hair stuck on her wet cheeks. At least, even in her sleep, Lady Miku could find serenity-a break from the unlikely news sent to her today._

 _"Gakupo!" She called out their gardener in the new manor. She saw him walking around with his gardening tools, probably on his way to make new flower beds. He was a young fella from the caretakers of Selbst manor before Sir Leon brought it._

 _The boy, who has a faint purple hair, stirred and peered through the glass-tiled door ajar, narrowing his eyes to Clara. He is a young man around seventeen or eighteen, handsome with his sun-kissed skin. He never said a word, but he waited for the head of household to ask him with her errands._

 _"Can you give me a hand in bringing Milady to her room?"_

 _Puzzled, he glanced at the sleeping girl on her lap. Her white skin and clean dress should never be touched by his dirty hands, he thought. "Pardon me, but I cannot. I just finished trimming the lawn. I will call the majordomo, right away-" he turned on his heel but was stopped by Clara._

 _"No!" She called, "no, do not bother, Gakupo. I am certain that Lady Miku would not mind your hands. She has stable lads as friends back in our old place and she has slept on hay. Dirty hands will not bother her for she has run barefooted on fields. Is that fine? Can you help me now?"_

 _Gakupo looked back at the sleeping girl, pondering if what she said was true. She reminded her of his own friend, if that story was to be believed. She was much like his Lady Luka. His tools were placed carefully against the ground and he stepped inside the house. Smiling back at Clara, the two of them carried the sleeping girl upstairs._

 _This was Gakupo's first time seeing the second storey of the Selbst manor, and it was grandeur and elegant, and it exhibited privacy compared to the first storey. The large windowsills and fair curtains outlining it, the beeswax polished floor, the gigantic vases and huge paintings on the wall, it was a part of the Selbst manor estranged to the general reception area he knew._

 _"It is indeed beautiful," Clara spoke as she shut the door behind her, Miku was still asleep. "I am gaping that way when I first saw it. You must be prohibited to ascend in here?"_

 _Gakupo nodded. "My father wishes none of us to set foot here, save the first storey. He said that it was a matter of privacy. I do not understand what he meant by that, until today."_

 _Clara showed him the way downstairs he lost track due to astonishment, and he hurriedly bowed and ran down. He made his way down the grand staircase alone, and he was pressured to get over it. His father always reminded him and his brother about getting caught by the nobles when wandering in the manor. They were people obsessed with cleanliness, as though a peasant's presence was a dirt already. Any peasant or wealth-less person was a dirt to them._

 _"Young man, running downstairs is an alarming misbehavior,"_

 _Gakupo almost stumbled his way down after hearing that pleasant voice echoing. He leaped from the step where he lost his balance and landed butt first on the checkered marble floor. When he lifted his face to see the speaker's face, he saw the owner of the manor before him-gorgeous and manly in physique. His fair hair fell an inch above his shoulders, he stood like a strong knight or a wise scholar, Gakupo was not sure. He undid the cuffs of his dress shirt and loosened his ascot tie._

 _"Did I startle you that much? Please rise, gentleman. Let us have a tea."_

 _"No, sir. I have to go-"_

 _"Alright, then I want to know what is your name. Are you the said Gakupo Cunningham? The neighborhood talked about you being a good painter." The blond aristocrat smiled at him as he helped him to stand, and Gakupo felt embarrassed to hold out his master's hand._

 _"But my hands are . . ." but Gakupo was interrupted when the noble said he doesn't mind. "Yes, sire. I am Gakupo Cunningham. And no, sire. I am not a good painter. I cannot paint walls, if that is what you are asking me to do." He stood on his feet._

 _The handsome noble laughed at his answer and sat on a stool near the huge window. "I am talking about your relationship with the canvas and oil paints, young man. You may now leave, if you wish to."_

 _Gakupo stood dazzled as he eyed the noble's back on his stool. This might be the 'spirit' his father was talking about when around the nobility. Refinement in movements, language, and emotion, some nobles were known for their exactness in everything. Sir Leon was one of them._

 _"Farewell, sire." The young man scrammed out of the manor, then ran across the lawn to fetch his gardening tools left on the east wing. Sir Leon's presence reminded him of his Lady Luka, and Gakupo's observation made him conclude that maybe, nobles were taught the same thing._

 _He kept his tools in the storehouse carefully and once done, he decided to leave for today. The sky was orange and yellow, the sun almost sunk on the other side. After a brief moment of staring at the early evening sky, Gakupo began walking home. As he paved his way on the cobbled streets, his Lady Luka flashed in his head. She should have been worrying now, for he was gone almost the whole day. Such fair lady was never used to his absence. Hurrying himself for he could not afford to let her worry, he ran down the street._

 _Weston household was never a friendly family to its servants. His mother was employed by the wife of Marquis Weston, she was only eighteen that time. His mother had given birth to him and his brother, and still, she was working for the Weston family. She had spent her days taking care of two infants back then, to Gakupo and the marchioness' daughter-Luka Weston. He grew up with the mistress, but was not allowed to interact with her when the marquis and marchioness were around._

 _But it was noticeable that Luka was not normal. Even if she was as pretty and as graceful as her mother, there were several things she lacked. It included the vigor on roaming around the lawn to see the flowers blooming in the morning and the butterflies wandering in the Weston's garden. Her frail body made her isolated inside her room behind the staircase. But she was always smiling, asking Gakupo to bring her fragments of what he sees from the garden._

 _He would bring her fresh flowers, and she would smell them, then fancy how pretty they were. He would bring her baby birds he got from the bird's nest, and she would scold him for the mother bird would be worried. 'No, I promised the mother bird to give it back! I won't eat these chicks anyway!' He'd tell her._

 _Sometimes he would bring her a frog in a jar, or a worm, or anything that would displease her, only because he wanted to see her different expressions. Either she smiles, gapes, scowl our throws tantrums (when seeing bugs sealed in a jar), it all entertained him to witness honesty with her expressions._

 _As they grew older, her legs became noticeably weak to such extent that she could not walk anymore. She was only ten when she lost her ability to walk. Her father, Marquis Weston noticed how Gakupo helped her in everything (although most were done in secrecy), and he assigned Gakupo to be Luka's valet._

 _Luka liked the idea, she told him that same morning when Gakupo carried her to see a full view of the lawn for the first time. Her long hair colored like carnations dangled from his arm, and he did not miss to sniff her sweet-smelling hair. It was like flowers, he thought._

 _"You are my butler from now on? Father surely know what is the best for me. It only means you can show me a lot more than what this little earth can show, right? Look! A butterfly! It is flying!"_

 _Among all of her expressions, Gakupo loved her blissful smiles. She was like a blooming rose against the green foliage, bright and pretty and alluring. She was precious, Gakupo realized it. And even if she lost her ability to walk, her parents desired the best for her-meaning, she was precious._

 _Gakupo would patiently wait outside the study room when Luka was being educated by her governess. When her governess would leave, he would carry her to a movable chair and bring her back to her room to change clothes. Although he was totally against helping her out in changing, he would comply, as long as it was her request. If she asked him to bring her to the Park, he would push her special seat uphill, even if the road was not even, just to do whatever she would ask. During afternoons, she would spend her tea time on the garden, while he would mow the lawn._

 _She was such a fine lady, he was sure. She would became the finest lady,_ _ **for**_ _sure. He remembered exactly, when he was sixteen and she called him out to assist her in dressing up. He laid eyes on her skin that he should not see, albeit she was not unclothed at all. But a man seeing a lady only in her chemise, that was against the rules. But he was her butler._

 _She was seated at the edge of her bed, long carnation hair_ _disarrayed_ _behind her, and her legs hung lifelessly from her seat. When he opened the door, she was like an angel waiting for someone, her image bathed with the pool of light sneaking through her curtains._

 _"Gakupo! Thank goodness!" She smiled at him. It was a tired smile and he was not glad seeing that. "I do not want you to do this, but Miss Mew was on her day off today. Can you help me dressing up?"_

 _Embarrassed, he averted his eyes from her and tried making an excuse, but he ended up saying a fact. "Milady, I will gladly abide you, only if we are still children and nothing can be thought of. But a man should not-"_

 _"You do not have to undress me, if that costs your worries. Hand me the stockings and I will do it on my own, just give me a hand tying up the corset and putting on several layers of clothes." She was still smiling. "I trust Gakupo. I am sure you will not do anything bad, will you? Your mother is busy in the kitchen, so I cannot ask her. I cannot call the majordomo to aid me, can I?"_

 _His face was burning in embarrassment as he obliged with her favor. She did her stockings as she said so, and now, he was seated behind her while he was hooping the ribbon in crisscross manner on her corset. Her hair was collected on a shoulder, leaving her neck bare to his eyes. She had grown up to a lady, her skin was whiter than it used to be. And her scent was like . . ._

 _"Lady Luka?" He asked._

 _"Yes?"_

 _"Have you changed your perfume?" He tightened the ribbon before jumping down her bed to get her kirtle and partlet from the cabinet. The lady had her eyes after his every movement, a smile never left her tiny lips._

 _"You have noticed? Yes! What do you think of it?"_

 _"I think it smells bette-" before he could compliment her, there was an uproar from the kitchen that interrupted them. He quickly dressed her and picked her up as soon as he finished, and they dashed to where the tumultuous disturbance came from. They were surprised seeing his mother and the majordomo fighting for a knife._

 _"Mother!"_

 _"Run! Gakupo! Take Lady Luka with you-"_

 _"But mother!"_

 _He would not move at all unless it was clear to him. But when the mad-looking majordomo looked on their way, eyes hunting down the Lady's life, Gakupo retreated and ran out of the Weston manor. They spent almost the entire day in the Park, with Luka being carried by him every time they would move. He brought her to their small house and dined the first two meals of the day, and when the time her parents would come home, he carried her back to the manor._

 _When he came to the manor, he was asked what happened and he told them what they witnessed. Luka also confessed to her parents what happened. It surprised them both when the Marquis and marchioness dismissed the majordomo and her mother, and asked them to never come back._

 _'It was a disgrace,' Gakupo remembered the exact words the marchioness said that night, 'that your trusted servants are eternally blinded with greed and possessions! Peasants will be peasants! Poor fellows like you shall not be trusted at all! Oh, I am mistaken! I am mistaken!'_

 _"Mother!" Luka held on her mother's skirt when the marchioness passed by her side. "Gakupo will remain as my butler. Please, I am begging you-"_

 _"No, my child. He is the son of that ungrateful woman! That woman, she is after your life all this while!"_

 _"She is not," Luka protested. "She told Gakupo and I to leave the manor! It was the majordomo who wanted to stab me with the knife! I saw it, mother!"_

 _"They are alike, Luka! No one shall come back here again. I will find new helpers-leave!" The marchioness yelled to them, and Luka's parents thought that it was the last time that these servants would set foot on Weston Manor._

 _However, Luka trusted Gakupo alone. He would come to aid her in compliance to the Marquis' order. It was not objected by the marchioness but she did not look pleased as well. He would come to aid Luka after dusk and leave by morning to do his own errands._

 _All of her expressions, he had seen it. Her serene face in slumber could be the most beautiful look she had. Watching her from the foot stool beside the hearth was enough for him. He was there to assure that she was safe from any harm like the majordomo, or from the new helpers of the manor._

 _"Gakupo!"_

 _One morning, Sir Tonio called him while he was planting new seeds on the flowerbeds. The majordomo was waving a hand to him, pointing at the opened door from the west wing. He said Clara was asking for him. Sir Tonio was this middle-aged bearded man, who was always carrying a pocket watch chained on his neck. He was a kind, great debater, knowledgeable about anything connected to the society._

 _Washing his hands on the fountain, Gakupo knew that it has something to do with the young lady of the manor. He pulled out a handkerchief from the chest pocket of his waistcoat and dried his hands, and dashed to where Sir Tonio motioned him. As he lunged himself towards the glass-tiled door, he caught a glimpse of the young lady standing while her arms were stretched out. Clara was tying the knot of her pinafore on her back. It reminded him of how he helped Lady Luka with her own dress._

 _"There you are!" Clara cheered when he entered, grabbing the hand of the dame to assist her towards the grand piano. "Lady Miku wishes to talk to you."_

 _He stood next to Clara and eyed the lady curiously, for looking at her when asleep and when awake left different impressions on him. The dame never looked amiable when awake. She had this disagreeable face, sour and plain._

 _He sat on a stool near her and Clara left the two of them. It did not dawn to him how much engaged he was with his disabled masters, proving the truth that even if nobles could have anything, they weren't perfect beings._

 _"Good day to you, milady." He greeted. "Have you a good night sleep?"_

 _"Anything but not good, sir. Do not call me 'milady'. I do not like it." She was an unfriendly queer child, that is something Gakupo was certain about._

 _Unnerved, he replied. "Then what shall I call you?"_

 _"Miku." She said, grazing her slender hands on the ivory keys of the piano. She was thin and pallid, she looked like she could not stand the sun for too long. In that case, Lady Luka had a better nourishment than this young dame. Maybe he could ask Luka to come along at some time._

 _"As you wish," he bowed. "What do you want me to say?"_

 _"I wanted to thank you for helping Clara bringing me to my room." Miku began playing a recognizable melody. He admitted to himself that she was good in playing the piano. "Clara told me that you refused at first, for your hands are dirtied with earth. How true is it?"_

 _"As true as my words, Miku. I am a humble servant of this house, and I shall never stain my master's clean clothes."_

 _"You spoke lowly of thyself. Do you know, I have a friend from Green Fields, Portia, who never approved of social classes but incessantly called me 'Lady'?"_

 _"Because it is a custom to address ladies politely, Miku."_

 _The music stopped with a heavy pause on lower 'do'. "Is that so? Too bad, I could never tell him of that custom. He died after falling off a cliff." Gakupo expected that the talk would eventually lead to the cause of her dismay, since he was warned through a whisper by Clara before she left._

 _He heaved a sigh. Dealing with sour-faced children was never his forte, let alone dealing with impatient children. But Lady Miku was not impatient, she was only fed up by her recent loss. It was a friend, must be someone intimate to her, for anyone could forget easily at young age. And yet, the blind dame was rather open about her grievances._

 _"I am told about his death. My sympathies are with you, but it will be better if you will take him out of your mind to act more appropriate, if I may say so." Gakupo said. He should try distracting the lady from being too mournful._

 _She sagged her shoulders. "Like I can take a good friend out of my mind! Rude! That is rude!" The next thing Gakupo could not handle was children's tantrums. "I am disappointed on how smooth you talk about it! Like you know what you say-like you know what you say!"_

 _"Hush, Miku. You completely misunderstood a figurative language."_

 _"Whatever it could have meant!" She retorted, slamming her hands on the piano. "I do not wish to talk about him sadly! I do not wish! I do not!" It was repeated like a mantra, together with her attempts to stand and walk back and forth, but her condition forbid it._

 _"Perhaps, having a stroll on the garden would lighten up your anger, Miku?"_

 _"You surely know how to handle me, huh!" She is slowly getting into his nerves. "And what can I get from the gardens? I do not see a single thing! Here-see?" She waved a hand in front her eyes and slumped back on the stool, the ugliest sour expression materialized on her face._

 _Cocking a brow with her meaningless rage, Gakupo rolled his eyes and figured out how ill-mannered the little dame had become. She was disagreeable, but of course he did not tell her, and she was too irrational for him to handle. Lady Luka was a pleasant child to deal with-back when he was young, and Lady Miku was far from being pleasant._

 _"Because the garden offers peace of mind! I can say that that thing is what you needed right now. Urgently," Gakupo took her hand and led the way out of the house, but it was just an action done to interrupt the young lady's tantrums. "There is this lady from the former manor where my family worked, who is very fond of her garden even if she cannot step out and touch if herself. She taught me that each flowers had its own meaning."_

 _"Figurative language, I assume?" Miku asked, voice serene compared to earlier._

 _Gakupo laughed as he carefully assisted the lady down the garden, wary as though he was teaching a baby how to walk. "You should have a governess to lecture about that, young miss. Lady Luka, the lady I am talking about, loved to watch the sunrise from her flower garden, finding peace at every dawn."_

 _Miku huffed beside him. "That is peace of mind? I cannot watch sunrises and sunsets, mister."_

 _Disagreeable._

 _Disagreeable sour plain cold lass._

 _She needs a little sunshine in her conceited way of thinking, Gakupo thought as he sagged. "People need to think of other way to convey secret messages so flowers are used, instead of codes in letter writing. Lady Luka taught me a few of it."_

 _"Please do not tell me, I am not interested. I will not know what is the secret message if I cannot see it."_

 _"You can smell them."_

 _"Some are odorless."_

 _"You can tell from the petals,"_

 _"But some are identical."_

 _"You won't listen to me at all, will you?" Gakupo sat the two of them beside a full-grown flowerbed, the plants had already sprouted up from the rich earth. His smile was so lighthearted, it always entertained him seeing new lives to begin. "Ephemeral though they are, these are the beauties of earth found lying beneath a mediocre green bud. Like you or me, who are once bitter and fretful, but once we bloom, can you imagine what beauty what our hearts hold?" He told her dreamily._

 _"No, pardon me. I cannot imagine."_

 _What an unpleasant girl! He looked around to talk about something else, but his main purpose of taking her out was already achieved-make her forget, at least, of this deceased friend. The only thing left to cure was her attitude. It was foul, he could smell its reek._

 _"Lady Luka is such an agreeable young dame," and you are not, you are irritable, "she knows a lot of wonderful things but she is not perfect."_

 _"You talk a lot about your Lady. You must like her as a man, I presume?" Miku stared blankly into nothingness, but her scowl remained intimidating-skinning Gakupo alive. "Why answer me with silence sir. Is it true then? As true as your words? For if I will believe your words, you only spoke of her like a knight bragging his beloved mistress."_

 _The young gardener, or painter, whatever he really is, smiled and chose to stay with this interesting sour disagreeable lady. He would help raising this little distaste, and make her a fine lady. "No, milady. There is perfection in her imperfection, and that is really wonderful."_

 _However, no matter how much time had passed, the little lady never changed._

 _"Gakupo! Talk to me! This chirruping birds are tiring!"_

 _He would scowl._

 _"Gakupo! Are you digging the earth again? You will not pick worms and bring that to your Lady Luka, will you?"_

 _He would throw away the worms he caught._

 _"Gakupo! Are you painting again? How could you leave a darling in this boredom?"_

 _He would graze his colored paintbrush on her cheeks._

 _"Gakupo! I will be playing piano! You have to be an audience!"_

 _Gakupo would stand beside the piano and listen intently to her little show, pleased with her amusing performance._

 _Soon, Gakupo was chosen by Sir Leon to be his student. The scholar said that his niece recommended him to be his new learner, for the painter told a of lot things to Miku. 'He could learn a lot more,' she told her uncle and smiled. This happened when Miku was 12._

 _Gakupo watched Miku to grow an inch every year, but she would never reach his head. He noticed how he failed to correct her inappropriate demeanor, however, she was witty and observant, insisting her stand about the growing gap of social class. She was becoming gaudy with her expressions, neglecting how to smile unless it was necessary. And he was used to it. Being Sir Leon's learner taught him a lot - his Lady Luka praised him for getting a free education from the Chancellor - and that included Miku's old habits, old self, and lost future._

 _Gakupo knew the child as if he was an older brother._

 _"I would like to meet your imperfect lady," said Miku when she came home after her eye-operation. Miku was already on her eighteenth year. "I will be really glad to meet her, Gakupo." With both of eyes bandaged, she smiled at the gardener._

 _He smiled and assented._

(Present, 1836)

A horse drawn carriage stopped in front the stone fences of the Selbst Manor, and three gentlemen of fair appearances came out. The other one, who seemed to be the oldest, had the longest hair, much like Gakupo's, swaying behind him like a stallion's tail. The other one, who Gakupo assumed was the youngest man's son, had a dark blond hair tousled like trimmed grasses. The last gentleman, taciturn and taller than the others, had his hat on and scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face down through his chest.

What a family of flaxen people, Gakupo sighed as he gently dropped the tulips he cut from the garden to replace the withered ones on vases. He rang the bell to call Sir Tonio, announcing the arrival of three fair gentlemen. When the majordomo had not arrived at the door immediately, Gakupo greeted them in his behalf.

"Good day, gentlemen. May I ask what business do you have with Selbst Manor?" He asked.

"Father, should we really go? This man was rather offending to ask us tha'."

"There is nothing ado, Lui." As what Gakupo thought, he really was his son. "And to you gentleman, I am here to meet my brother, the master of this house. Is Sir Leon Holly in his study?" Gakupo was about to tell that Sir Leon was there, only to be stopped when Sir Tonio hurled Lady Miku's absence from the grand staircase.

"My apologies," quickly uttered Sir Tonio when he saw Gakupo's guests, and the painter himself, staring at him in surprise. "I am clueless that we have three gentlemen in here. Gakupo, what are they here for?"

"This man says he is to visit his brother, Sir Leon. But I do not recall the Chancellor having a brother, Sir Tonio."

"Gracious Olympus! Sir Rinto, is that you?" Sir Tonio raised his spectacle to his eyes, looking intently at the fair man who has a sly smile. That smile reminded him of Miku's sneer.

"I am, Tonio. I hope you will let us in."

"Absolutely. Follow me, sir." Tonio sidestepped to let them in. "And why don't you take these two young men to a tour inside the house, Gakupo? You should show them the paintings from the third level. Let them have an afternoon tea, too."

Gakupo watched Sir Tonio and the man he called 'Sir Rinto' faded from the corridor leading to Sir Leon's study room. "Are you his sons? You have a beautiful family." Told Gakupo as he showed him the way to the staircase.

"I am. My name is Lui Holly and this is my brother. We are here to invite my father's so-called brother to a little gathering we arranged for to-night." The dark blond man, Lui as introduced, proudly said and walked beside Gakupo.

'Garrulous! Miku would dislike him.' Gakupo thought to himself as they mounted to the second storey. "This is where the masters of the house stay during their rest hours, family time, and other private businesses. They rarely have a family visiting them, so I am surprised to have you on the door. Pardon my rudeness, Sir Lui."

Lui waved his hand in the air. "Don't apologize, it's perfectly fine!" The man snickered and patted Gakupo's arm, then pointed out the large window. "Pray, enlighten me. Does tha' can see a good view of th' downtown through tha' large window? Whose piano was tha'?"

"Lui, we are not in Portia. Watch your language." His brother scolded, cold voice quickly wiped the crazed excitement Lui had on his face. "I am sorry to suddenly interject. He oftentimes forgets we are not in our home. Manners, my brother. Your manners."

"So you speak Yorkshire? I can easily tell from your accent Sir Lui. Do not bother putting on your social manners. The masters of the house, well it is just the lady, really do not mind things like that." Gakupo smiled and led them upstairs. "The piano is Lady Miku's, but she is still out. If you want to play, then go as you wish."

Without another word, Lui turned around and ran down towards the piano. Gakupo heard his older brother sigh in defeat. "So childish," he heard him mumble.

"So, gentleman. What is your name?"

"O' I almost forgot. The name is Leonard d' Alembert. I heard that you are Sir Leon's scholar. How fortunate to be taught by the Chancellor himself. Pleased to meet you. But you are . . .?"

'His words needed to be read wisely,' Gakupo noted as he smiled at the other man. "My name is Gakupo Cunningham, valet of Lady Miku, the Chancellor's niece. Nice to meet you. Whoever told you that news, I am not to deny it. Being educated when you are deprived of learning, is truly life changing."

They stepped on the third level, the polished floor shone against them. Clara would be mad to see it dirtied with Gakupo's shoes from the garden-he would clean it later. "Here we are, this is almost the gallery of this manor. Old works from the former owners of the house are displayed here, together with the present occupants' arts."

"What about the ideas?" Leonard questioned. Then, he chuckled. "Pardon. You see, Lui is my brother from this organization in Cambridge. It is a civic society. So, what about the ideas? This house should have a lot of ideas, a Chancellor from Portia, a scholar, a former knight - you should have heard a lot from him?"

"Whatever that means?" Gakupo found himself uttering like his cynical master.

Leonard d' Alembert walked with a graceful gait towards the window on a corner, one of the blue violets planted on the oriel fell as he bluntly stated his ideas to Gakupo.

"You say _old works_ are displayed here together with the present works of the occupants now. These paintings and other arts are not the only ones this manor must be keepin'? Residing with a brilliant Chancellor, this grandeur house should be nurturing wonderful ideas-both revolutionary and serene. Like this . . ."

. . .

 _His words needed to be read wisely,_ Gakupo reminded himself. _They are powerful enough to bring change._

"Why don't you pay me a visit in the Lemmings Manor? Later evening, there is a ball. As what Lui told already, we arranged it for that sole purpose. I am sure that you will listen to its elaboration, your lady included." Sir Leonard smiled at him.

"What makes you confident that she will be pleased to listen to your liberal ideas?"

"That painting must be hers?" Sir Leonard asked, glancing on the huge canvas behind Gakupo. It was showered by the afternoon sun, bright green and golden grasses stood bent. Three youngsters were in there, the only girl was flying a kite. "This painting shows all the odds of social norms. I know that you know what I mean, you told her that she doesn't mind social manners. That must explain this _what-I-assume_ a childhood memory? A pretty painting, truly feminist. But I bet she is impatient,"

Gakupo gawked at him. He nodded and wished Sir Leon to continue. "How do you know?"

"Impatience must explain this heavy bizarre streak of colors. She must be almost done when she randomly pranced her brush to finish it." Sir Leonard raised his head after staring at the painting. "Liberal, deviant. This is a memory any noble girl isn't allowed to have. Playing with stable lads . . . barefooted . . . a kite, _how figurative._ "

"You surprise me. You speak of truth. But how did you realize it?"

"I deduced it." Sir Leonard's smile was proud yet humble, but it faded soon when Lui rushed to them, panting like a thief. His scowl casted an ill expression on his face as he watched his brother complained.

"Grumpy! Grumpy!" Lui said in between his pants. "Grumpy, scary, old cigar of a lady!" He picked a violet from the windowsill and glanced down beneath him, murmuring that ladies shouldn't listen to private talks, then dropped the stalk of flower.

He must have witnessed Miku's tantrums, Gakupo gentlemanly laughed.

Lui walked to them and announced their sooner departure.

"So, Sir Gakupo? I am looking forward to seeing you to-night. Please tell your sweetheart that she is invited, too. Her name begins with _L,_ if I am not mistaken?" Sir Leonard tipped his tricorn a little.

Flustered, Gakupo lost all his grace. "How did you know-I mean, she isn't. Not like that, really."

Sir Leonard smirked and turned his back, whispering, "the handkerchief on your chest pocket. It was embroidered there, smells like flowers, too."

 _How observant,_ Gakupo trailed the two blonds.


	12. The Man behind the Mask

_Classic Tale of You and Me:_

 _The Man behind the Mask_

"Sir Rei, what about this mask with red feathers? You will surely look enticing with this!"

The corners of the knight's mouth bent down, his lips formed a perfect curve for the most disagreeable mask showed to him the third time. He would not attend the gathering tonight to meet a lady of the night, or a potential lover, since he already had a plenty of admirers wherever King Yohio would send him and his knights. Fists curled against his cheeks, Rei winced at his squire - a redhead from the outskirts of Green Fields, Fukase - and expressed his disagreement with his choice of garment.

"What about this butterfly-like eye mask? I have heard from the drunkards of the fleet that women are attracted to anything with touch of femininity!"

Rei sighed audibly and turned around, rising from his seat to glance at the heap of people seen through the glass door of that shop they visited downtown. Since he woke up to find Fukase reading the invitation the blond man had given Rei earlier, the boy never stopped blathering about his curiosity to these kinds of social events - that were mostly for aristocrats alone. Even if he had attended plenty of balls, Rei never had been in a masquerade. He learned it from His Majesty, King Yohio, that masquerade balls were long banished, because people attending open celebrations like this disregard taught values.

"Alright, Sir Rei. This is the last one the shop can offer you-but it's plain and boring, unattractive, if I may add."

Fukase stood next to his mentor, whose hands were kept behind him, and showed the plain white full face mask to Rei. Other than the holes for the eyes and the below the mounted nose of the mask, none of the plain mask's feature could reveal its wearer's identity. Rei smiled and nodded, then gave the redhead enough shillings to pay for that mask.

"What about yours, Fukase? Buy another one suiting your taste, or perhaps take that butterfly one. You wish to find a lover, do you not?" Rei handed another couple of shillings to Fukase, allowing him to buy a mask of his own. This made the young attendant happy, for he skipped around the shop to find a good mask of the amount Rei had given him.

Rei and Fukase went back to the Old Oak, carrying their purchased masks wrapped with old newspapers. The redhead was humming as they walked, smiling gleefully with his black mask. 'How peculiar,' Rei told his attendant when he paid for the masks, 'I thought you were wishing to attract women?' The redhead grinned at him, claiming that black was charming enough. When Rei brought the idea of his lover left in Portia, so-named Rana, Fukase's triumphant grin fell.

"A knight should not carry the image of a Casanova," Rei told his squire as they walked into the market, the uproar of vendors beckoning the strolling people disturbed the two. "Howbeit inevitable it was for a knight to get a lot of admirers-"

"Which is your case," Fukase inserted.

"Fine, which is my case, but you should be loyal to only one woman." Rei patted the young man's shoulder, turning him to the right. "You're only seventeen, you will find love deeper as time goes on."

"And to whom do you give your loyalty?" Fukase turned the knob of the Inn's door, and swung it open for his mentor. Rei flashed him an ephemeral smile and walked ahead of him.

"To my motherland, Kingdom of Portia."

"How patriotic! I want to have the same zealous devotion for Portia, too." The redhead trailed his mentor as he walked upstair to his room, keeping an eye on Rei's graceful movements, distinctly his - full of glory unstained and mighty. Fukase was more than glad to be taken by this knight when he was found in the outskirts of Portia. He was smiling at him, extending his hand to help a poor fella like Fukase.

"All knights should bear the same patriotism, Fukase."

The vesper-bell resonated at dusk, summoning worshippers to vespers and indicating the Evenfall to most of the residents. The corridors are candlelit every two metres, illuminating the narrow passages deprived of people. Old Oak Inn has few occupants today, so the second storey has one occupied room - the one where Fukase and his mentor, Rei, are staying in.

Rei inserted the key to the door knob, with a hard paper dangling from it where the character IX is written, and twisted the knob. It was a mixture of dimness and carnation-colored twilight drenching the little space that welcomed them. The smell of burnt wick and vaporized wax filled their nostrils, as Fukase brought up a candle standing on a thin metal saucer.

"Sir Rei, you shall take your rest as I ask the landlord to serve us our dinner." The redhead said. Rei went straight to his bed and unlatched his revolver from his waist, giving approval to Fukase's errand.

"Do not ask a lot. We have a ball to attend, we should eat plenty of free delicious dainties later." The knight reminded, placing his musket on the bedside table, undoing his cuffs next.

"Noted. I will be back after a while, sire." Shadows casted wrinkles on Fukase's smooth face as he smiled, leaving the candle on the stool beside the door, and shut the door behind him. Rei was left alone.

With a sigh and his cuffs unlocked, Rei walked over to his bag near the stool to bring out the dress shirt he would wear, and dug up to find another one for Fukase. Their ages were not that far, so as their body sizes, so probably one of his linen shirts should fit his attendant. Pulling out a black shirt frilled around the neck, it should fancy Fukase. The ball would begin around nine in the evening, and it was half passed seven already. They could prepare within enough time.

The door opened and Fukase entered, declaring that the landlord would come up a little later. Just then, Rei tossed Fukase a black shirt. "Wear that to-night," the knight smiled at him. Even at the dark, he saw how the redhead's eyes sparkled in delight, gaping like an astounded child.

"Thank you, Sir knight! Thank you-!" Fukase raised the shirt in the air and laughed and twirled it around like a . . . too much fascinated girl.

Sir knight? Did he call Rei Sir knight?

'Nostalgic,' thought Rei as he hovered over his bed. 'If I am not mistaken, Miku used to call me that way. 'Sir knight, huh? I miss that lass and Len.' He watched how Fukase rummaged his things to find good pants and began trying it out with Rei's black dress shirt, and his black eye mask. Laughing at how good-looking this redhead could be, he advised the young man to take his clothes off and better wear it for the occasion later.

"See, the landlord is here," Rei said when a knock bothered them. "Open it up and let us dine first."

His attendant obliged and took the tray of food from the landlord, muttering a rapid 'thank you' before closing the door. Placing the food on the bedside table, Fukase handed his mentor his plate and the two of them began eating.

It was five minutes before nine when Rei and Fukase left the Old Oak Inn. People walking along the streets were dressed their best, women walked with their petticoated French gowns and men displayed their manliness with their best suits. All of these people wore their masks.

The stars were up against the black sea succumbing the earth, the moon was completely out of sight. Gas street lamps lit their way. Fukase's red hair was perfectly pulled away from his eye mask, and such look attracted enough attention from the ladies walking alongside them. There were squeaking and demure chuckling as he and his mentor walked to wherever these people would head to. Rei was beginning to question whether the hosts of this gathering could feed this number of guests.

"Seems like the hosts invited the whole land of Essex. Is this crowd bringing us to London?" It was supposed to be a joke, but his squire failed to get it. Rei put on his mask, his hair was tied at his nape with a red ribbon.

"That's probable. The hosts must have invited everyone, except the royalty. If they could, they should have invited people from Hastings, too."

Rei patted Fukase's shoulder, then kept his hands behind him. After that, the knight never spoke again. He kept his eyes on the lights coming at the end of this uphill cobbled streets, bountiful of lights illuminating a manor atop of this little hill, surprisingly. There was a smirk beneath Rei's mask, the whole event interested him-especially when the houses along the downtown lack electricity. 'Just how,' the knight thought, 'how did they gather this power when the conversation about electricity between England and Portia is just still an idea? Who is this prodigy? What are they up to?' He was sure it isn't Sir Faraday.

Rei lost his concentration when three young ladies approached them - or Fukase alone, asking the attendant's name. Their headdresses were extravagant and too colorful, Rei grew disliking towards them already.

"Pardon me, fair ladies. But I think it is too early for that. Let the night begin first at Lemmings. Then, you can ask whatever you want to know from this boy." He picked Fukase's arm and dragged him away from the ladies who, on the other hand, just squealed and screamed "see you later".

Astonished, Fukase looked up to his mentor and walked with his pace, until the knight let go of his arm. "I never thought women will speak to me first, what you said is true. Taught manners are forgotten here!"

"Stay with me all the time, Fukase. This masquerade is not a simple celebration for someone's son who qualified in Cambridge. This should interest our King," it was a warning, Rei could feel the eerie atmosphere lurking around a splendid arrangement like this. And to think of it, did they mean to invite foreigners to witness this?

The starlit sky was not Rei's reason why to stop eyeing the little fraction of Lemmings Manor in vicinity, but it was the numerous kites glowing against the dark sky-glowing even brighter than the stars up there.

"Bloody! What is tha-"

"Hurry, Fukase." Rei ran ahead of his attendant and dashed uphill, scampering away from the number of people crowding the streets as they get nearer the masquerade ball. "Fukase! Work thy legs and rush here!"

"Yes, sire!"

Soon enough, Rei and Fukase reached the tall Gothic gates of Lemmings Manor. The lawn was spacious enough for hundreds of people. In fact, it was still spacious even a hundred of visitors were already there. There was a beautiful music playing from the huge hall of the manor, tall pillars raised the ceiling high. It was bright and uplifting inside the magnificent mansion, the lawn - or the garden was well taken. Trees stood high around the manor, small orbs of lights lit the arms of trees extending in all direction. Connected to them were the kites set high, glowing like small fireflies in the sky.

"Elegant, Sir Rei. This occasion is elegant. I cannot imagine how much money did this nobility spend for to-night, how astounding." Fukase mumbled beside Rei as they took their time walking towards the breathtaking structure of the manor.

"What sorcery is this," Rei looked around to find more people entering the Lemmings, but it never made the place look crowded at all. Fukase spoke of a premonition. Even if the hosts invite the nobility of Hastings, it should be fine.

A servant dressed in black waistcoat and white blouse, stopped in front Rei and Fukase, offering them glasses standing on his tray, filled with red wine. 'Why serve red wine that instant?' Rei thought as he picked two glasses and handed the other to his attendant. The servant, masked too, bowed and stepped away from them. They were about to step on the marble floor when Rei heard a brief scream from the other side. That was when he and Fukase decided to check what was the ruckus about.

They scampered to where the noise was from, and along the East wing of the manor, a group of ladies and gentlemen gathered - seemingly encircling something - with the loud noises of swishing and clattering overwhelmed the squeaks of the ladies. Rei and Fukase stood somewhere open to the apple of everyone's eyes.

"What is this all about, my friend?" Rei asked as he raised his glass to his lips, the bystander on his left lifted to sip on his rice wine. The hosts served different alcoholic beverages, Rei noted.

"A little fencing between two fine gentlemen there. I haven't seen how or why it started, I just witnessed this when the ladies began screaming."

"Hm, I see. But don't you think that fights are quite permissible here? Especially this one, they are using swords." Rei commented, watching two persons battling with swords, both refine, graceful and calculative in their movements.

"I do not know," the bystander shrugged, "they seem to have a friendly fight-they were talking while they do battle. And it seems that the taller man had this battle wrapped around his little finger." This time, the stranger left, allowing Fukase to stand next to Rei and watch the fencing in the shadows.

"Look at that! There is mastery with their usage of swords!" Fukase interjected. He quickly gulped down his drink and coughed right after he did. He let the glass fell from his hands and clung around Rei as he claimed that his throat was scorching.

"You don't gulp down the wine, Fukase!"

"Ah-! Ugh-oo-ehoo!" The redhead ran away to find a servant bringing water, leaving Rei on his own. Watching Fukase's retreating back, Rei heaved a sigh. The boy reminded of himself when he was first invited in a ball with King Yohio, and he did exactly the same with Fukase.

"Whoo!" The crowd chorused, bringing Rei's attention back to the two persons on the middle of this heap. The one with a full mask much like Rei's, had his sword thrown away, and the taller opponent was pointing his sword at him.

"So, it has ended?" Rei mumbled against his glass and narrowed his eyes. The defeated one retreated. The winner was about to leave when the one standing next to Rei, a gentleman around the average height, dressed in full black, picked up the sword on the ground.

"Wait a moment, sir." The voice was quite hoarse and hollow, or _forced_ -somewhat, attracting the attention of the winning gentleman.

The winner was wearing a fencing attire, his face was covered fully by a mask with smiling mustache and eyes. His blond hair was tied loosely at the nape of his neck with a black ribbon. The challenger had the same mask as the opponent, his hair was silver cyan like a sleepy morning sky, long and swaying behind him like a stallion's tail.

"I am challenging you." Said the man dressed in black.

The man in white never spoke a word but stood ready for a battle.

Without another word, the man in black lunged forward to his opponent, his foot forward, advancing continuously-keeping the opponent retreating from him. Rei watched the one-sided battle, for the winner never made a thing to counter the man other than to swirl his sword and make his opponent's advance fell.

Then, swiftly sidestepping, he swung his sword and broke his opponent's defense. "That is not a normal sword att-" Rei was taken back.

"What was that!" The man in black yelled, quite high pitched, as he stabbed back the winner, and the man in white just held his sword above his head and lunged it downward as if stabbing someone, dodging the attack by the man in black.

"You move very gracefully more than my brother. May I know your name?" The man in white asked, swirling his sword like a tornado and stepping backwards.

"State yours and I shall tell mine."

"The name is Leonard d' Alembert."

"Pleased to meet you, but I lied." The man in black said, suddenly stopping his attack. He stood there and waited for the winner to attack instead. "How can you say your name that easy? What is the purpose of wearing masks if you will unveil identity that easy-"

"And you talk so much for a man," the winner attacked this time, his thrusts are swift and fatal, that if the challenger did not dodge, he would be wounded. "Surprised that these attacks are not the tacit convention you used to know about fencing?"

"I do not care about convention!" Yelled the challenger, hopping away from the winner - this fight was not fencing anymore.

Rei smiled, the fight was a _normal_ fight - but too refined for a common fight. It was a fight between two nobles. 'Entertaining,' the knight thought.

"Then join me and my civic society!" Exclaimed the winner, standing like a mighty statue with arms spread in the air. "We need people with minds uncaged!"

The challenger dropped his sword and turned his back, declaring that the winner-the man in white-was nothing but a mad noble. "You are a person with big dreams! You bore me!" That moment made the crowd disentangle themselves from watching the fight, considering the challenger coward.

"I heard from your valet that you are friends with a person in Portia known for his uncaged ideas. Do you not want to see him?" The man in white asked, pointing his sword to the ground. "Mr. Cunningham told me that you are longing for a friend long gone."

"You are full of yourself, I don't have a valet."

"Or probably you want me to end this battle a little by force?" Rei became wary of the white man's words. It was threatening his opponent, probably wishing him to listen.

Without an answer, the opponent ran away and the winner dropped his sword to chase the man in black, only to be pulled back by Rei.

"Pardon me for my intrusion, but I think you need not to scare a gentleman that way." Said Rei, holding the man's arm tightly. They stood at the same height, menacing presence radiated from both of them.

"Then entertain me, Sir Rei of Aria. The right hand of King Yohio and Queen IA of Portia. I heard you say those words before-not to me, of course, but to my student." The man pulled himself away from the knight. "I am displeased with your interruption, Sir Rei. I am utterly displeased."

Rei picked up the sword the man in black dropped, and raised it to fight the winner.

"I wish you to let me unveil the mask of that fine being, but you force me to do a different approach persuading that person to join me." The man in white hooked his sword to Rei - a move beyond the fighting style Rei learned.

"Clara!" Miku threw her mask as she went inside the brougham, her forelocks fell above her eyes. She panted and buried her face on the leather seat, throwing suppressed tantrums. She repeatedly slammed her fists on the seat, annoyed and irritated.

"Milady, you have to change now before your uncle, Miss Lily, and Miss Haku wonder where you are now."

"That man is insolent! I will get back to him! He is a fool!" Miku yelled as she removed her ascot tie and undid the cuffs of her dress shirt. She dressed like a man in hopes that she would find Rei easily, away from her uncle and friend's suspicions, and she mistook that man as Rei. Amid their fight, she remembered that Rei has a dark hair, that was according to Clara and Tonio. But the man she fought, he has a blond hair. He behaved so ungentlemanly, too. Not a characteristic of a knight, Miku groaned.

She put on her chemise, corset, kirtle and partlet, and all clothes she had to wear. "Forget the petticoat," she said. "I hate that." Clara draped the French gown above Miku's head, it was a beige frilled dress that accentuated the Lady's curves and lean physique - a body she achieved after practicing fencing with her uncle, even before she got her sight back.

Her uncle told her that she could learn fencing even if she lack her sense of sight. Leon insisted that despite one's incapacity, there were things that could be done still. And that incapacity to do some things should not be a hindrance to do other things. The Chancellor wanted to raise Miku like a classical person, like a man born in Renaissance-both refined in Humanities and could do any sport.

After Clara clipped Miku's plain black mask covering half of her face, the impatient lady hopped out of the brougham. Her mask was unattractive, just like what Lily said. Its nose extended to an exaggerated length, like a bird's beak, but showed the lower half of her face. Her hair was plainly braided as she rushed towards the manor, Clara trailing behind her. The music was upbeat and lively, the musicians entertained their audiences well.

"Miku!" A lady with a fancy mask approached her, picking her arm and dragging her inside the manor. The initial reaction she had was to squirm away from the unrecognized persona and began ranting about her rudeness.

"Do you really drag people out of their will? Who are you?"

The lady's fan hit Miku's head. "Stop acting like a child. This is me, Lily! Are your eyes that poor in dim lighting? Hilarious! Sir Leon is looking for you - your gorgeous uncle too, Rinto!" The blonde dragged her further inside the bright hall of the manor, people danced round and round to the music. Miku eyed the group of musicians playing on the elevated platform, recognizing the pianist as the young man she crashed into yesterday afternoon.

"What an ugly hair!" The ribbon binding Miku's hair into a braid was pulled, and a pair of hands loosened it into waves. "Lady Miku! Look at least stunning! You are so plain!" Haku, Miku assumed, threw the ribbon away and picked her other arm - she was officially captured by the Beryls.

"I do not appreciate that, Lady Haku! It is my personal choice!" Miku yelped as she tried squirming away from the Beryl sisters, only to be slapped by Lily's fan at the small of her back.

"Straighten your back! - Good evening, Sir Holly and Sir Holly. We found your dear niece, Lady Raleigh wandering at the lawn." Lily curtseyed and pushed Miku towards her uncles and the Beryl sisters left.

Muttering a complaint about Lily's absurdities, Miku faced her uncles with shoulders huffing. Sir Leon and Sir Rinto both wore a plain eye mask, masks that sat at the peak of those pointed noses that she never had. Her nose was tiny and pointed enough, but unlike her uncles, they do look like hawks or some sort. Hers was cute like a small bird's beak.

"I thought I am supposed to enjoy this night and meet the owner of those whimsical ideas, Uncle Rinto?" She asked. "Anyway, have you found your son already? Or the prince?"

"My son, yes. In reality, he plays the piano right there. Why don't you try talking to him later?" Sir Rinto answered, tilting his wine glass towards the musicians. "The Prince, well, I expect to reveal his identity to-night."

Miku nodded, realizing that the blond who helped her yesterday - the stuttering lad who talked in Yorkshire - was her cousin. As she watched him lose his cool on playing the keys, being taken away by the people's cheers and tapping shoes, a blue violet remained still on his chest pocket.

"Uncle! Did my cousin _what's-his-name,_ drop the blue violet from yesterday?"

But Rinto stifled a laughter with his brother, Leon, their wine glasses were refilled by a servant passing by. Impatience hit her like a ticking second hand of a clock, so she turned her back to her uncles who forgot her presence, and brushed away the people obstructing her way. Gakupo and Lady Luka must be in the lawn. However, a sea of people entered the hall, and her way out was totally blocked.

Nobody pays attention to me, she thought.

That was until a hand tugged her hand and settled it on an arm. A tall man in gray waistcoat, wearing a white eye mask like her Uncle Leon's, tangled her hand on his arms. He was a head taller than her, his hair of lilac caught up in a red ribbon. He looked down at her and smiled, then asked, "you wish to escape here, too?"

"Yes." Miku looked away from the Gakupo's kind smile. She was just staring at the wave of people multiplying before their eyes, until her butler dragged her away from the entrance. Everything glowed brighter, tapping shoes resonated - and the next thing Miku knew, she was twirled and pressed against the Gakupo's hard chest - his pocket watch poking from his chest pocket.

"I do not dance-you!" He turned her around and caught her hand back, and swayed the two of them in a bizarre movement she hated. Miku noticed that they were not following the direction were the dancing people head to, but instead they were crossing the dance floor. Gakupo was a weird entity with a weird way of escaping weird realities, Miku noted as they reached the corner of the dance hall. Her eyes glistened at the sight of a beautiful lady seated beside a gorgeous white pillar, drenched with the light coming from a . . . small circular glass atop. _What is that, anyway?_ Miku brought her attention back to the lady.

Decorum neglected, she broke away from Gakupo and ran straight to the lady with carnation hair. The lady was smiling at her - it was the most beautiful smile Miku had seen - and Miku smiled back a genuine smile.

"Lady Luka! I am so glad to see you!" Miku quickly wrapped her arms around the lady, as though she was a little sister, and it was warmly returned by the kind woman.

"Oh, Miku! I am more happy to see you! It is my luck that I saw you marching away from your uncles! Your hair is distinct, you see." Lady Luka gracefully laughed and tugged away the few strands of her hair falling on her face. She was wearing a flowery crimson red mask that amplified her beauty. "Gakupo, thank you for fetching Lady Miku for me." She addressed Gakupo standing behind the grumpy young lady.

"Anything for you, milady." Gakupo bowed.

"Oh, I am jealous! Gakupo is so tamed whenever Lady Luka is around! But you know, Lady Luka, when we are in the Selbst, he rarely abide my requests!" Miku whined and sat on the floor, propping her elbows on Luka's lap.

"That is because your requests are impossible, Miku." The lilac-haired valet replied, tugging at Miku's shoulders to pull her away from Luka. "Do not put your weight on Milady's lap."

"Let her do what she wants, Gakupo." Luka smiled and patted Miku's head. "Gakupo can be mean at sometimes, forgive him."

"I do forgive you, Gakupo. If it isn't because of Lady Luka, I loathe you already!"

 _Childish,_ Gakupo displayed his straight face to the sour lady crouching down to Luka's lap. "Lady Luka, do you want to stroll around the manor?"

"Of course, if Miku will come with us, I will be pleased."

"Then I will come!" Miku stood swiftly.

"I asked Lady Luka alone." Gakupo ignored Miku's spirits as he maneuvered behind Luka and pushed her wheeled seat towards a deserted corridor. Luka placed a hand on Gakupo's hand - which is on the handle of her seat near the shoulders - and mumbled that he should not be mean to the young lady.

"It's fine, Milady. We are always like this." He answered.

"Oh!" Miku peered at Luka's gentle touch on Gakupo's hand, then looked at his face that even if it was covered slightly by his mask, it was warmed by a recognizable reddening. "Gakupo is such an adorable man! Look, Milady! His face is red!"

"Miku, can you please stop squealing? It hurts my ears. I do not recall teaching you that ladies squeal like a chip-"

"Really!" Luka interrupted Gakupo and asked him to stop. "Please, let me see your face, Gakupo!" The lady was so stimulated with energy after hearing that, because she has a weird obsession on Gakupo's _undeniably_ handsome face.

Gakupo is annoyed, Miku is certain with that. Whenever Lady Luka does things that have a different impact to him, his face turns red like an apple. Miku loves to see how Gakupo loses his composure and grace when times like this come, and she cannot stop herself from letting it pass.

Even if he is extremely embarrassed, he will do anything Luka asks. Glaring daggers at Miku for a while, he crouched in front Luka and let her lift away his mask. Her slender smooth fingers, grazing his skin momentarily when she took his mask, made his cheeks warm.

"Gakupo! You are so adorable!" Luka yelled and placed her palms on his cheeks, forcing him to stare at her stunning blue eyes. "I love your face! All of it!"

Gakupo quickly stood and wore his mask back, then pushed the lady again. Miku was stifling a laughter at him, while Lady Luka had her hands on her cheeks - still mesmerized by Gakupo's ungraceful blushing.

"Lady Luka really loved that face of Gakupo?" Miku asked, making Gakupo glower at her even more hateful.

"Yes! I really love his face! His beautiful eyes like lavenders, his tiny straight nose, his gorgeous smiles - all of it!"

Miku chortled hearing that - for that made Gakupo fluster like a kid. "Even if he blushes?" Miku added, intently annoying her attendant.

"More likely! His face is like a rose whenever he does! He is so adorable! I love his face!"

"But I think, Gakupo will be more happy to hear you say you love him, Lady Luka." Miku sneered victoriously at Gakupo as they stepped out the mansion, soft dwarf grasses touched her shoes.

Gakupo did not react to Miku's mocking. That was when Miku thought of her words and actions - maybe she took it too far. The urge to apologize clambered to her throat as the silence between the gorgeous maiden and her butler thickened. She caused the awkwardness, Miku was sure. She did. It was her fault.

"Lady Luka, I apologize for being insensitive there. I did not mean to say that, I mean, it was inevitable to feel unattached, right? You are together since your childhood, and judging from the looks you both have, it really is impossible not feeli-" bloody, Miku held her breath. 'Gracious Olympus! I uttered more unnecessary things!'

"Pardon me! I did not - I, it is, I mean - I am sorry!" Miku covered her mouth as the two moved further towards a row flowers, the two older people left her behind. Gakupo stopped in front the flowers and crouched beside Luka, about to pick a flower, but Luka's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Call Miku." She said and removed her mask. Gakupo saw an expression on Luka's face he never liked. It was seriousness. Whenever she put on such face, he was subjected to rethink of all times he spent with her and assess whether her expressions were genuine or not.

"Miku," he stood and beckoned Miku to come closer. "Lady Luka asks for you."

Like a timid guilty pup, she walked to him with head stooped low. 'I'm sorry,' she mouthed to him before standing on the other side, facing Lady Luka. "I'm so sorry, Lady Luka. I should have not said that."

Luka smiled at her, waving her a hand to forget it. "I love Gakupo, Miku." It was not only Miku who gawked at the nymph seated on a special chair, but also the bearer of the name Luka mentioned. "I love Gakupo the way I love the flowers in the garden."

"Is that a figurative language?" Miku looked whimsical after hearing that. But her face was nothing compared to Gakupo's sullen one, that he left the ladies with a word to Miku that she should escort Luka for a while. "Lady Luka, that was a blunt rejection."

"Eh?" Luka blinked. "I thought I confessed to him properly! Gakupo knew how much I love flowers, I love it so much even if I could not set foot there and touch them freely on my own. And my love for Gakupo is like that."

"Enlighten me."

"Flowers are pieces of the earth that shows beauty. It is a beauty I cannot hold for too long, it is ephemeral. But its short life is not the crucial thing. I love Gakupo like the flowers in _our_ garden, flowers that gave me reason to live. It is rejuvenating to witness that day by day, they bloom again as if they never withered, as though they never came from a common green bud." Luka smiled. "I love Gakupo like the flowers I cannot take care of myself, cannot keep for myself. He knew that. He understood what I meant by all of these."

"Then, why did he walk away?"

"Because he understood it. I could never have him, especially now. I was the happiest woman when he was educated by your uncle. He easily had an education more than what a common noble could have - me, included - and I hoped that such attainment would bring our statuses closer. If that happened, my parents would never separate me from him. However, as I watch him dream bigger, I could never reach him and hold him down. A burden like me should never stay by his side, especially now that he was moving toward a larger world."

Miku turned on her heel to ponder about Luka's feelings, when a cold liquid splashed to her chest - a man in black dress shirt crashed to him.

"Oh goodness, I'm sorry!"

"No, it's fine." Miku walked near Luka. "Milady, did you bring some spare clothes with you?"

"Gakupo has it." answered Luka.

"Fukase! What did you do?" A taller man joined the ruckus, pulling his mask off his face. "I don't have enough shillings with me to pay a noble's dress-oh, Fukase!"

"I'm sorry, Sir Rei! I didn't mean it! I was looking for some servants to get some food when I crashed to her."

 _Noble! Noble! Who cares whether you are a noble or not -_ Miku mentally scolded - _wait, did he say -_

"Rei? Who is Rei?" Miku turned back to the one who spilled water to her, and removed her mask to see them properly. "You do not have to pay for this dress, you only spilled water. It should dry soon. But tell me, did you call this guy, Rei? Are you the Rei from Portia?"

"He is! He is King Yohio's knight, Sir Rei of Aria!"

"Fukase! Stop blabbering! - Mademoiselle, pardon my attendant's misbeha-Miku?" When Rei laid eyes on the lady before him, he could not tear it away. The fancy hair color, the pallor of her complexion, the _blue_ eyes - it was her. "Miku, is that you?"

"Are you Rei?"

"It's me. It's me. Oh my goodness, look at you! You've changed!"

Anyone would have, Miku sneered. "You used to play piano with me in the clocktower, right?" She watched him stifle a laughter while his attendant asked if he played piano before.

"No, of course not. A challenge question, aye? You never changed. I am the Rei who took you to the Sunday mass the day you arrived in Green Fields. It's me, Miku. You can trust me."

Taking a deep breath to stare at his face for the first time, she smiled. "It is finally nice to meet you properly, Rei." Norms forgotten, she ran to him and wrapped her arms around the knight of her brief childhood in Portia. The knight embraced her fully and warmly, a smile lit his face. It was a smile neither Fukase nor King Yohio had seen.

As they shared a little intimacy that neither their young selves shared, Miku felt her buried regrets quivering in her chest. It asked freedom right at that moment.

"You have your sight restored!" Interjected Rei when he broke the hug, eyeing the beautiful lady she has become. Her smile, it was like before, kind and stubborn - insisting to drop the gap between aristocrats and peasants.

"I have no choice," she replied, forcing herself to hold back her tears, "I lost you and Len, so who would color my world? And to think of it," her face crinkled into a frown as she began shedding tears - voice trembled and shoulders shook. "It is my fault why Len died, Rei! I did not keep my promise! I promised you to protect him!"

Her curled fists were against her chest as she uncontrollably broke down like a dropped wine glass - the ghosts hunting her down for the past nine years resurfaced. She wanted to take all the blame for that incident, for if she did not spill the milk to her dress, she would not leave his place - he would not chase the train, he would not fall into his end. It all happened like an instant, her regrets she suppressed for nine long years found its way to break from the cage she made especially for it.

Why not?

There were no nights she did not think of her Warlock and Knight.

Rei's strong hands pulled her hands away from her chest, gripping them tightly as though freeing her from guilt. The words he whispered, _it's not your fault, it's not your fault,_ failed to halt her tears. Those droplets gushed out of her blurry vision, which is already not as clear as they used to be. When he pulled her back against his chest, she was painfully reminded that she could not feel Len like how she feels Rei now, that she could not see how he looked like until today.

She was glad to see his face, his black hair and his amber eyes. It felt real, powerful than an imagination painted by people's description of him. His hand, his chest, his voice - it all made her blissful and despondent at the same time, for her wish to see Len alive had its voice louder than her heartbeat. _If only Len is here, if only Len is here . . ._ how would his hands feel on her hands? Was it the same when they walk along the wheat fields? What would it like be to rest her head on his chest? Would it be as comforting as they had rested on each other's forehead back then? If only he lived, would he be as vibrant as Rei?

It all subsided to her - the events on and before the tragedy of her kind boy; they met Sir Rinto and learned the truth about the lost Prince, Rei's departure, Sir Rinto's confrontation to Sir Leon. She was pressed against a royalty. She used to hear it bluntly from Sir Leon, if he could only find Rei, nor have Len alive . . .

"Rei!" She yelped, peeking her head up to him. "Uncle Leon must see you! You have the power to stop the war on the borders of Portia and Queenland!"

"Of course," he smiled. "I am the right hand of the King-"

"No! Something more important than that! We have to see uncle to confirm it!" She tugged on his hand, and turned around, but suddenly remembered her Lady Luka. "Gentleman," she addressed the redhead, "can you push Lady Luka's seat and follow us? Thank you."

Without further ado, she pulled Rei behind her and shoved her way to the corridor that was desolated some while ago - but was now found by some people. There were irritating laughter from ladies cooed by random males, and she tried her best to ignore that to get her business done. Her cheeks were still soaked with her tears, vision quite blurry, thus unaware of the two gentlemen who suddenly came out of the hallway.

'Uncle Leon has to confirm whether Rei is the lost prince or not,' Miku thought to herself, walking straight ahead - mindless of Rei's hand trying to call her attention. Thus . . .

"Oh!" Miku felt herself drenched with something strong-scented, red liquid dripped down from her forelocks. Her dress, was now stained red, and she felt more dingy to face her uncles. "Have you ever tried to -"

"Lady Miku?"

"Pardon me, my fair lady. You suddenly appeared in front -"

"Gakupo!" Miku recognized Gakupo's lilac hair even against poor lighting, but still bright enough. She was sure that this guy with him, whoever he was, has to pay for her dress. "Would you kindly tell this gentleman to stop ruining my day?"

"I can offer you a bath and new clothes in our -"

"And please tell him that I do not want to listen to his bloody suggestions-" Miku interrupted the fair stranger, but Gakupo treated her the same.

"He is Sir Leonard d' Alembert, master of Lemmings Manor. Miku, speak politely for he can really offer you a change of clothes. Whatever your errand is - you must be in rush to pay less attention of your surroundings - it can wait." Gakupo said coolly and walked towards Luka. "Jonquils for you, milady."

"Aha!" Miku's loud mocking voice surprised all people passing by that corridor. "Mr. Leonard d' Alembert, how unlikely to meet you. You have ruined my day twice in a row and I am totally displeased with that. You are absolutely, purely, utterly wicked - so quit this all and give me some peace!"

Five pairs of eyes stared back at Miku. Her face bare without a mask, felt so vulnerable against those scrutinizing eyes - and she eventually regretted her cynical self for talking like a mad person she already was.

"Milady, we meet only once today. Unless you are personifying as-"

"That is a figurative language, bird brain! Take me with them and I shall change!" Miku covered up trailed behind the obedient gentleman, she almost let truth be revealed to him. Mr. Alembert was someone she disliked strongly. She wanted to lash his mask away and remember that face for the rest of eternity. Her brief duel with him earlier the night set up her mood for the whole night, which was being sour.

"You surely have grown hardheaded now that you have your sight back," Rei whispered as he held her hand back - she surprisingly never let him go.

"Without you and Len, I am a different person."

Leonard opened a door and asked her company to wait there first, and he escorted Miku to another room. It was a bedroom and he vanished after entering a door. She heard soft clattering of twisted knobs, then followed by a gush of water, and the masked fair man went out of the bathroom.

"Your bath shall be ready in a few seconds. Follow me so you can have a choice of clothes."

"I only need a simple dress, don't bother presenting gowns."

"I'm not planning to. We never had a female in the family so who would wear one. And I bet, you are comfortable wearing a man's clothes, so I think Lui's linen shirt should fit you." When he turned to face her, his mask was pulled away from his, _well_ , beautiful face.

Her heart began hammering at her chest, pounding like a stallion on a muddy track. She was taken back with his face, it was such a sheen sight of perfection staring back at her. Her breathing heaved like a choked dog. It bewildered her why she couldn't move a muscle or blink an eye against him-such bewilderment resulted her eyes to open widely.

She was instantly enamored upon seeing his face; he was a gorgeous fine being - his kind smile whispered her nostalgias, as if she _heard_ that smile _somewhere._ Those blue eyes were intellectual and keen, boring into her deeply. For a moment, she was unable to breathe until his hand reached out to touch her cheek.

But such action urged her to hold her breath more, for he lifted her face so he could look more intently - she was not sure. Her chest felt tight as he neared his face, the proximity was rather sudden. _Moral, decorum, decorum, decorum, rules -_ these things flashed in her head as she thought that maybe, _just maybe,_ these things are really needed.

Those vehement blue eyes narrowed as he neared his face to her. Miku was afraid that he would her heart if he would continue closing the distance between their faces.

"I am supposed to jerk away or kick him in his manhood," she lectured in her mind as she remained still. "I do hate him in the name of all Greek gods. Why am I not moving away?" Her mind was mad. She was mad. Her body was betraying her thinking.

"Look at your eyes." His warm breath smelled like wine.

She blinked. "Huh?"

"What 'huh'?" He repeated and took her arm, dragging her near a lamp. "Have you undergone an eye operation before?"

She nodded. Her chest churned in some way she could not understand, frowning at him as he entertained himself with her eyes.

"I am a physician and an opthalmologist from Cambridge. But besides the field of Medicine, I also studied literature and a little of politics. I want to help you with your eye condition. Your cataracts - both eyes - are beginning to thicken again, and it will take a short year before you lose your sight." This time, he dragged her towards the bathroom's door. "I want to invite you to a tea tomorrow morning, in the Mellow Manor - it is a place here in Lemmings - and offer you a free consultation and operation for your eyes."

He smiled at her.

Her chest felt tight in disappointment as she closed the door on his face, _even without an answer_. For a moment there, she thought he would kiss her.

"Who are foolishly enamored that fast, anyway? He is an annoying newt who tried cheating on fenci-"

"Milady, is there a problem?"

"No! Call Gakupo for me and I shall be fine, thank you!"

Miku struggled to pull over her gown as she impatiently tugged on its neck, wanting to rip it apart. Her sour expression resurfaced as her annoyance to this wicked Leonard soared to the stars. _Whoever you are, whoever you are, Leonard! I will not forgive you!_


	13. Sir Leonard d' Alembert - The Wicked

Note: This work is purely fictional. The dates of discoveries are purposely altered.

 _The Classic Tale of You and Me:_

 _"Sir Leonard d' Alembert, the Wicked!"_

Amber eyes stared intently at the lady seated on the other end of the room. Her waist-long pastel teal hair was dried by her reserved butler, the other half of her hair was combed by a fair lady on a wheeled chair. It was almost a morning dress, the clothes she was wearing. The plain lightweight fabric engulfed her skin smoothly, draping loosely below her bosom; it's high neckline concealed her skin. He watched her fidgeting while her butler talked to her, she shook her head several times.

The entire scene transformed Rei to a mental sloth. He never thought that noble women had to undergo such extravagant preparations before facing people. To think of it, Miku was just wearing a simple dress. What if it was something like the French gown she was wearing earlier?

"Sir Rei, what are we waiting here again? The music from the hall became lovely, I wanted to get out of here soon." Fukase whispered to his mentor, sympathizing with Sir Rei's boredom.

The knight was about to answer when the two masters of the Lemmings Manor entered, the taller one still had his mask on while carrying another ruffled piece of cloth in his arms. The smaller blond trailed him, his face was crinkled and cheeks puffed in impatience.

"This is the largest pinafore I have seen, Milady. I never thought there could be one for a woman. This overdress is commonly used by young girls - and you are a lady."

Rei sneered at Leonard's declaration, feeling more bored with his presence inside the same room. It is ironic, really, that after he had a good duel with Leonard, Rei left immediately and accepted his defeat. "We will never meet again," he kept that in mind for the past few hours as he wandered around the manor to study how the lights worked, but when he and Fukase reunited, things became unhandy.

It hurt the Knight's pride when he lost the duel with the said gentleman. Leonard is good and full of surprises, doing unpredictable striking of sword - and Rei will do anything to know what technique is that, because he is sure it isn't normal fencing. Speaking of which, Rei called his attention while the fair lady with carnation hair tied the ribbon behind Miku.

"Excuse me, Sir Leonard?" The raven-haired fella stood from his stool. "May I know what sword technique have you used in our battle earlier this evening?"

"You fought?" Miku asked but was ignored.

Leonard and his brother (who is laughing), stared back at Rei - the raven-haired knight is not certain if Leonard is staring, he cannot see a lot from his full mask - and sighed. The smaller blond chuckled as he answered in behalf of his brother.

"Od on a bit," Lui began, "that int a technique at all." He snickered and glanced at his brother before looking back at the knight. "To enlighten thi bewilderment, I reckon tha' Leonard rarely follow th' rules o' fencing. Tha'd witnessed his gormless battlin' dexterity! That wa' tennis!"

Lui laughed and turned around, stopping his own merriment when his cousin stared at him like he was a subject worthy of inspection.

"I wonder why you laugh a lot," stated Miku as she stood in front him, hands on her waist like a skeptic old maid.

"Nowt o' a sort." Lui shrugged and stepped away from her. "Art tha, scary woman, speakin' like an old codger?" He whispered to himself as he hid behind Leonard.

"I am not an old codger, my fair cousin." Miku walked to face the quiet Leonard who never spoke a word of his own. "What tennis is he talking about? Is it true?"

"It is true."

"Impossible!" Rei whined as he recognized Leonard's movements as a tennis player's response when he would hit a ball. In case of their engagement, Leonard assumed that his blows were the ball, and the fair man would swing his sword as though it was a racket. It explained why Leonard's movements were wide, strong, and controlled; and why he could easily switch into small, swift , and unbreakable normal fencing advances. "Why? Why did you use tennis as a reference in using a sword?"

"These lads art ninnies," Leonard shook his shoulder and maneuvered to lead them back on the hall. "Fencing is a boring art and sport. It is too limited, I think of it that way. Using a sword freely can help a person understand swordsmanship better."

They all trailed behind the two blonds. The knight was utterly impressed with his opponent's wit, his crashed pride was forgotten after hearing how creative the blond was. On the other hand, Miku pushed Luka's seat while Gakupo walked with them, in front them was the knight and his attendant. Lady Luka was playing with the jonquils on her lap, pinching the yellowish flower bulbs along her humming. It interested Miku what jonquils mean. She remembered, did Gakupo left them just to get these?

"Gakupo? Where did you get these flowers?" Miku perked her head up to the tall taciturn valet, and the man never tore his eyes away from the people escorting them out of that hall.

"Yes, I was about to ask that too," Luka added.

"I was looking around their lawn when Sir Alembert saw me. He showed me to their flower garden. When I saw the jonquils, I thought 'twas necessary to pick some and give it to Lady Luka." His cold voice bored the disagreeable younger lady, making her complain because she never received one. When he answered, she felt more annoyed. "I would bring you dead leaves."

"Insolent! Absurd! You - you - ugh! Lady Luka, is this the kind of man you want to marry?"

"Certainly."

"Certainly?" Miku echoed, face red in anger. "How come? How come he is?"

"He helps me in everything. By everything, I mean every _thing_. Furthermore, he is a wonderful person. Sincere and thoughtful, if I may add." Everything felt dreamy whenever Luka talked, and Miku could never shrug that aura away. These two people with her were smitten by each other, hopelessly. Or was she the one hopeless?

"Even though he never said he loves you back?" Miku was surprised when Luka snapped her head to her, blue eyes wide in awe.

"He did," the lady protested. "Jonquils symbolize desired affection returned."

Right there, Miku felt the world to stop moving. The whole deal about the language of flowers - which was not the _figurative language_ she used to believe - was getting into her. She might ask for a list of its meanings the next time.

When they reached the hall, most of the people were drunk and unrestrained. The couples cooing each other earlier, were now doing something immoral along the dark. Miku cringed at the sight of the activities meant in private places, and her valet, who saw her reaction, immediately pulled her head against him like an overprotective brother. He pulled her mask down to her face, intending to limit her range of sight and avoid seeing the unnecessary.

"You are not ready to witness vices." He told her, and Lady Luka smiled at the two of them.

"I want to have a daughter like Miku. You are such a fine lady." The lady giggled and looked away, still caressing the jonquils on her lap.

Miku stirred up to Gakupo, glaring daggers beneath her mask. "Promise me you will not do that thing to Lady Luka."

Her valet just rolled his eyes.

The sober people gather at the dining hall, most of them are engaged in small talks. Even with their masks on, it is not hard to tell that these people - who chose not to join the merrymaking of the loud ungraceful people - are part of the nobility. The way they stifle a laughter, the gestures they make, the manner they sip wine through their glasses, - they are all nobles. And among these crowd of refined people, a gorgeous physique stand with grace and might, exchanging intellectual dialogues with people of equal description. The Chancellor of Englishmen.

"Uncle!"

The bright light made the checkered marble floor glittering, and upon her first step in the dining hall, Miku squinted her eyes with such brightness. She never liked how the sun shines for the past months. It is true that her cataracts are beginning to thicken again, for her eyesight has gone poor. Her eyes become too sensitive with brightness, and blurry with dimness.

"Uncle Leon, Uncle Rinto, you won't believe who's with me. May I present to you, Sir Rei of Aria."

Sir Leon gaped at the sight of the knight from Portia, especially when Rei removed his mask to bow at him in acknowledgement. He was unable to speak for a split second, but regained his composure as soon as Rei greeted him. It took Sir Leon some time to talk coherently for he was still astounded to see the answer of his prayer.

It would all take a nevus on Rei's chest and a mole on his back, and Leon's mission was done.

"I'm sorry, but can I borrow Rei for a moment, Miku? You already know what we have to talk, don't you?" Leon asked Miku after he explained things to Rinto. She was staring at him and thinking for an answer, but came up with a better idea.

"What about I come with you and listen to your talk?"

"I'm afraid, I cannot do that. This is a serious talk you shan't be involved. Please take your time talking with your cousin for he will keep your company." And even if against her will, she is left to Lui.

She watched the three gentlemen disappear after entering a huge door at the end of the hallway, so she heaved a sigh and faced her cousin. He was fretful as he stood by her side, but he never dared looking at her. He kept on tangling and loosening his fingers together, looking back and forth somewhere but her.

"Why are you so uneasy?" Her voice was cold and bored, his movements were disturbing.

"Nowt really." He said.

"Ah, this place is not interesting at all. Anyway, Mr. Leonard d' Alembert is your brother, isn't he? If that's so . . . does that mean we are cousins too?" Miku clung her hand on his arm to walk towards a table with free stools so she could rest her legs tired from standing and walking, and forced him to pull a seat for her. Although he never liked to abide, he did it anyway.

"Why ask? Art tha' smitten by 'im and tha' is too worried t' marry a cousin?" Miku almost choked herself with her wine. Lui shrugged and continued, "a lot o' ladies swoon after 'im but none caught his attention. He ain't a real brother, but a brother belonging to a civic society he founded in Cambridge. Tha' is lucky to have him talk t' thee - don't tell me he asked thee out?"

"He did not! He was more attracted with my cataracts than me as a lady!" Miku pulled the small plate with a slice of brioche coated with some sweetening ingredients. She ungracefully stuffed small slices of her food inside her mouth and munched like her dog whenever it starves. It was annoying. Her cousin was annoying enough to assume that she was smitten by _this_ Leonard, whoever is he.

Another stool was pulled from their round table as a redhead sat with them. Miku recognized the young man as Rei's company, and the man who spilled water on her dress. "You," she called, pointing her fork to his white face fringed with red locks. "You, state your name." Her fork waved in the air before stabbing the brioche with a loud clatter.

"As you wish. I am Fukase Attaway, Sir Rei's squire." The redhead stammered as he grabbed a glass of water to calm himself, only to be yelled at. _He shouldn't pick something,_ Miku yelled, _for he would drop it to anyone._

"Art tha th' same?" When Lui asked about it, Miku slapped his hand. "Tha' is far from bein' nice, art thee? Do tha' expect Leonard t' look at thee romantically if thou is too ungraceful?"

Miku Raleigh was rather cross with her cousin's choice of words, of him accusing her that she was a fretful woman, careless enough to ruin other's day - because this is what she thought of the redhead. But it made her crosser to hear Lui say that Leonard would not like her if she was like that. A deep furrow appeared on her forehead as she glared at the blond beside her, her grip on her wine glass tightened - so intense the grip on the glass could be shredded.

"I do not trust your judgment for we only met yesterday. It is in the Park, isn't it? So by what standards do you assess me as a perturbed lady who can spill water to people's dresses like this young man? Not that I insult you, redhead. But it is annoying to hear that coming from you, my cousin. Tell me those things when you have spent at least months with me." She did her best to conceal her rage so it wouldn't surface on her voice, for it would only prove his prejudices right. "And I do not recall that I am doing anything to please your brother."

She lifted her glass to take some sip when it was stolen away from her, and the gentleman who stood behind her emptied her glass. It was him, the root cause of her hostility towards Lui. The red liquor was gone from the clear wine glass when he placed it back on the table, three pair of eyes stared at the handsome culprit in bewilderment.

"That is a quick heated debate I have witnessed," Leonard remarked as he patted Lui's head. "I think you are being rude to your own cousin, Mr. Holly. Shouldn't you treat her nicely? I don't think she is not charismatic. You should have seen enough of her before you state your presumption."

Miku could feel her face burn in embarrassment. He spoke as though he had known her for many long years, as if he spent time with her longer than Gakupo did. It surprised her to hear him say these things, whether it was meant to confront Lui's misbehavior or to humiliate her purposely. The lady kept her hands wrinkling her skirt under the table as Leonard spoke again. She was simply reminded how she disguised as a guy and ran from him amidst a duel, and he easily learned her identity after she was escorted by him to a bath.

"And she has showed enough to please me, Lui. Lady Miku Raleigh, is by far, a fine lady I had my eyes on for tonight among all ladies here. I especially like how she and I were introduced to each other. If only you have witnessed that, I know you would say that I am initially interested with her."

Even if she was not looking at him, she could feel his unnerving smile. She despised it, she despised how he could make fun and shush her to make her feel more little against him and his brother. He was giving her an attention she never wished to have, not from an annoying newt who would toy around and " _what-huh?"_ her.

'Use that fork to silence him, or the bread knife.' She wanted to end his talk already for he was creating a horrible wrong impression to anyone within the hearing distance. After all, it was only the two of them who knew what exactly happened, and their first meeting was not romantic at all.

"And to you, milady," he looked at her, his hand landed gently on her shoulder. "I do not advise you to empty a wine when you are mad. You, yourself drink a little so do not force it. Being tipsy or euphoric, or probably sleepy, after drinking such wine will make me responsible to a lovely guest like you."

"Belt up, Mr. Alembert. Your wickedness is overwhelming me to such extent that I cannot spare another second to listen what you are going to say - to me or to your brother. Does it make you happy to belittle me against this crowd?" She stood to face him, finally speaking against his sweet nothings that did no seduction to her.

For in fact, she was already slightly enamored by his face - but not his behavior.

A chair screeched, breaking the intense fierce stare she gives him and the sly one he counters her. The redhead stood and faced them, then bowed so low. "I apologize for my misbehavior, Lady Raleigh. It all started because of me, so I beg your pardon and blame me if you wish to. I do not want you to argue personally as an offshoot of my misconduct alleged to you."

Leonard giggled softly as he pushed the locks of Miku's hair falling in front her face, then turned his back. He tapped Lui's shoulder and the straight-faced cousin of hers, obviously displeased of what happened, stood as well.

"The two of you are obviously wooing each other in a less suspicious way." Lui muttered coldly in a more comprehensible accent, probably intending to say it to Miku alone. "And I appeared to be a man with ill-will now. Why don't you take your own initiative."

Miku watched Leonard went back on him with a firm grip on his shoulder. She wasn't mistaken when Lui flinched a little at that, it could have been a warning for him to stop talking. "Canna' tha' 'old thysen?" Leonard's voice was cold and low, threatening even Miku. His eyes, she saw it through the holes of his mask, it draped heavily while looking down at his claimed brother. What bothered her was what he said, she never understood it.

"I guess we need to leave the two of you. Lui and I have to talk an important matter." When Leonard looked back at her, his serious expression was gone and his accent was straightened again. His smile, it was blinding and fraudulent. One could decipher how pretentious Leonard was.

Miku did not reply and instead, sat back on her stool. Leonard and Lui turned away, whispering words that neither Miku nor Fukase could understand. It was Miku and Rei's attendant that was left on the round table. Crawling further every hour, the night made her body to feel wane. The quietness between her and Fukase appealed against the gallant merrymakers around them, so she prompted to talk.

"Mr. Attaway, correct?" Fukase nodded at her. "How old are you? You seem young."

"I am only seventeen, milady."

"Very well. I was rather conflicted whether you are as old as we are, or you are a tad younger." Miku picked her fork and as she sliced a part of her brioche, then asked again: "how did you meet Rei?"

"It really isn't a long story, milady." Fukase was a bit awkward conversing with her, recalling her standoff with the two blonds from earlier. However, she seemed delighted while asking him - well, there was no way to prove that accurate.

"Fukase Attaway," Miku repeated, glancing at him while resting her chin on her palms whilst elbows propped up from the table. "Attaway, a family name given to people living close the road. You must be residing within the walls of Portia?"

The redhead blinked astounded, he had not heard that before but she was not mistaken. "Yes, milady. We once owned a little stone house by the road in Pais de Gales, chiefly ten miles away from the Royal Walls. The house was ours for nearly a century until my parents abandoned it in exchange for a cart and a horse. I was left alone while they set forth to be merchants in England. So I, desolated and left astray, spent nights and days on the outskirts of Portia. That was until Sir Rei, a newly pronounced knight offered me help. Beginning that day I joined his journey and trained under his guidance. He was so young, was only sixteen when he found me, and everything I have now, I owe it to him."

Fukase was awestruck when he finished his brief tale. The lady was smiling as she finished listening and her brioche, probably touched by his story. _Attaway_ , Fukase repeated in his head. He was a boy living along the roads like an untamed cat.

"Rei is a kindhearted man, isn't he?" She finally spoke, raising a hand for a servant to bring her a drink. "He and Len are people with pure hearts and I am more than blissful to have known them during my youth."

"You are still youthful," Fukase interjected.

"Thank you." She smiled, drinking from her glass of water. "Rei never changed since then. Trying to help people as long as he can. How I wish I was as persistent as he was."

"Weren't you?" He grabbed his own brioche when he finally felt his stomach churning in hunger, refraining himself to remain composed in front a real noble. But she seemed not to care, and it seems fine so he eat right away.

"I was not. I am not. But I hope I will be," was her answer. The redhead knew it could have meant something else, something deeper, that he was not allowed to know for if he was, she wouldn't state it that way.

"I heard a lot of things about you and this boy named Len. Sir Rei used to talk about you and him a lot, albeit he tend to be repetitive with his tales. But it wasn't boring me, Lady Raleigh! I was enthralled with his fondness for the two of you. Is it true that Sir Len is dead?" Fukase said, staring intently at her blue eyes.

She sighed in a depressed manner. "Yes."

But Fukase's next words shattered the grievances Miku had kept.

"He isn't." Fukase whispered, leaning towards the table to relay the message to her alone. "He isn't dead, I think he isn't. I heard the servants at the back of the lawn where few guests walked into. They were talking about a person named Len, and there was this housemaid with fair hair telling to fix the Mellow Manor soon for his arrival."

"It could be any other Len." Miku giggled at him. "His name is not distinct as mine or yours, it's common." Other than convincing this young Attaway, she wanted to hold firm the belief that Len was dead. He was at peace, and she and Rei and anyone else Len left were the disturbed ones.

"But these family is from Portia, milady. They recently moved here in Essex." He drowned the brioche down his throat with water and continued. "I tried wandering around the place, it was such a gloomy part of Lemmings with walls covered with tapestry of sky blue, with kids playing on the field embroidered on the green grasses. Portraits of odd looking people forgotten in the history hang on its walls, and there is a sole door that will open through the wall if you find it against the deceitful long tapestried walls."

"What do you mean by all these?" Her gloved hand crinkled her skirt as she tried to hold herself down before running to her uncles. It couldn't mean that Sir Leon's prohibition for her to join their conversation, was to let Rei and Len meet, could it be?

"I think Sir Len was kept in here."

"He was dead. He fell from a cliff and how was a person supposed to rise from the grave!?" She asserted, slightly raising her voice in defense. _It could be any other Len,_ his name was common. _It could be any other Len_ , but she was not the one to tell.

 _It could be any other Len_ and she could feel he _is_ dead. He _was_ dead. That was what everyone thought. Nevertheless, her conviction was rather not plausible, for there is a voice so soft - whispering, "what if . . . what if he really is alive?" There could be no assurance.

"Fukase!" She interjected. "Where is this place again? The room where he is kept?"

"It's just an assumption, mila-" he began regretting why he spoke his little unthought theory. Tables were turned suddenly, and she who was asserting that the unknown Len was dead, was eager to see what he discovered for herself.

"Tell me." She interrupted.

It was not a good idea telling her. He internally winced about blabbering his adventure around Lemmings when he searched servants for a glass of water. There was a mystery in the air when he saw the tall garden walls suddenly barricading a part of the manor, Fukase was certain about that. When he followed the servants, there he overheard the name _Len_ that his mentor talked much about.

"Mellow Manor."

Miku stood from her seat and ran to the direction where her uncles and Rei had gone through, but amid her scampering, an arm hooked on her waist and she was spun to an opposite direction with Leonard walking with her.

"I was tasked to keep you out of their little talk. And I wanted you to sit here," he suddenly pulled a chair - the one where she was sitting a while ago - and pushed her down, "and listen to me and my brother's little talk. Gentleman, can you look after her and prevent her from leaving her seat until I come back?"

It made her wrinkle her forehead in distaste. "Mr. Alembert, you aren't allowed to pin me down against my will-"

"Is it really against your will?" Leonard whispered to her ear when he suddenly bent down, keeping a hand at the back of her seat. "Is it, milady? Perhaps discouraging you about your tiny imagination and false hope that a dead friend was kept in here would do?"

'Grab the bread knife already!' Miku yelled in her thoughts but her hands were not working, they were trembling-begging to just send him a punch.

"Have thee read th' scriptures?" He smiled. " 'twas said that th' dead, once dead, had no recollection o' his earthly life. Don't be so vexed t' accept that thy dear Len wa' lon' gone. Le' 'im res' in peace. But if tha' want some assurance that he does res' in peace, I warrant thee that he's glad t' 'ave thee around." Leonard left her with a smile that reached his eyes. Miku, silenced as he left, watched him as he ascended to the center of the dining hall.

There she was reminded that it was a Yorkshire habit to tell one's feeling with blunt frankness. Whenever Leonard or Lui spoke that dialect, she could not deny the tangled knots in her chest resulting from her doubt about them. But the feeling was not out of pure suspicion that they were bad people. Sir Rinto wouldn't be that evil to raise Lui that way, she knew that.

"That was some horrible coaxing to quieten you, milady." Fukase joined her watching the blond's retreating back. "I was glad I wasn't worked up as you are."

"Miku! Miku! Oh! Who is this young man with you?" Lily sat with her and grinned sheepishly to Fukase and she was replied by a nod from the redhead. "What is your name?"

"Fukase Attaway, milady."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Attaway. The name is Lily. Lily Beryl." The loud blonde turned to the sour-faced lady sitting quietly beside her, blue eyes glared at the empty wine glass. "Scowl more or you will look like your dog."

"My dog looks better than you, Miss Beryl. What brings you here?" Miku snapped, stomping a foot as she uneasily sat there. She was itching to run and leave, to see Mellow Manor herself. However, everything appeared to be planned - people kept on coming to hinder her from rising on her seat, just like what Len told the redhead. "This is totally meddlesome!"

It made Miku more annoyed and cross as Leonard raised his glass to toast with all nobles inside the hall. He was noticeable after all. His clear voice asking people to toast - easily encouraged people to raise their glasses, too. A gallant, tall, and tactful speaker, him being an intellect was an understatement. There was a little ruckus after that, and Len started to talk. A second before he began, Gakupo and Luka were already by her side.

"His talk will interest you." Gakupo said, pulling a stool for him to sit beside the bad tempered lady. He knew he wouldn't be able to remove that scowl she had, but trying to didn't sound bad.

"I am not interested in his talk or anything he will say in general."

"Do not take back your words when he begins," Gakupo poked Miku's cheek visible below her mask. "You're a stiff cold lady. Have some grace."

"His real purpose is not his talk, Gakupo. I am disappointed at you for telling such nonsense to me. Have you read his words beyond what one could be heard? He is beginning a war, my friend. Be wary around that stupid blond. He and his brother-I wonder why Uncle Rinto allowed this." Her statement bothered the people seated with her, evident from the questioning stares they gave her. " _Ablenkung, ablenkung,"_ Miku muttered, "it looks like he discovered me and my purpose." It never pleased her how her _connections_ would begin bugging her.

Lily throttled a laughter, and though it made her look stupid she pulled it through. Until she got back the air to speak, she asked, "you're full of life! What are you exactly talking about Mr. Alembert? I see him as a witty fox, as lively as you are!"

" _Blödsinn_ , Lily! I advise you to listen carefully and be not deceived by Leonard d' Alembert's eloquence. He is utterly wicked and despicable." Interjected Miku as she slouched on her seat and listened to Leonard. "He is a sly fox, ambitious and folly. His vices are showing off."

Leonard stood with grace as the crowd applauded, recognizing him as one of the masters of Lemmings Manor. Bowing to his audience, he began his talk like this;

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. May I have your attention, please? Thank you. I am glad to see how the sober people gather and retire from the joyful festivities to rest here. We finally come to the real purpose of this event, and that is to celebrate my brother - Lui Holly's admission in Cambridge.

"All that you are seeing now, the bright lights illuminating the whole manor, is a product of our hard work. Within a minute, the power will shut down and we have to continue this gathering with our traditional beeswax and spermaceti candles.

"Britain has been keeping this little secret from neighboring lands. The soaring economy that we have now, is a result of the fruitful advancements of our fellow creative people, who aimed _change_ in this sullen, mundane world through Science. Science is making its name, introducing us the laws of nature our eyes have never seen barely. The bright illumination of this manor is just an example, for we all know, the rise of industry has begun a decade ago.

"Gone will be the days that we will spend dark nights with oil-lamps-lit alleys. _Electricity,_ it will be called _that_ years from now. Sir Faraday and his colleagues - God bless you, if you have heard their names - are still on their way theorizing and experimenting the full usage of this power of _electricity_ we showed you. The atoms, the electrons, the energy- and all things you will not understand for you are all man of letters - will furnish light in the darkness of London and Essex every nightfall. The continuous consumption of gas lamps, beeswax candles, tallow candles, oil lamps, and even reeds dipped in animal fat; all posed a serious threat to our safety. It is a common knowledge that we are unambiguously exposed to the fangs of fire and death.

"However, a _bulb_ -yes, that rotund glass emitting warm light- glows as bright as hundred-and-seventy candles; it can sustain lighting with a lesser risk to our lives every dusk. If all of us will show support for my brothers and colleagues abroad, the struggle for the limited time this power can be used, will soon end the dark nights in England and the mischievous ne'er-do-wells and vagabonds.

"Everyone, let us welcome my brother and his colleagues." Leonard moved away from where he stood as he was replaced by a group of people varying in age and looks. But, all of them were very noble and keen looking. As they began to talk about their discoveries, amusing their audiences even against the dimness of the dining hall, Leonard went back to the table where he left Lady Miku and her friends. She was exchanging talks with her valet, and both of them looked like they would argue in a few seconds.

When he reached them, he quickly excused if he could have a time with Miku, wishing her to accompany him and talk to him about a very important matter. She seemed displeased with his interruption, but after a sigh, she stood and held his hand. Leonard lead her out of the manor, towards a bench in the middle of the empty lawn. Her grip on his arm was firm for she could barely see anything from the darkened hallways. It was a quiet walk they had, until they settled to sit.

It was cold, Miku thought as she sat silently on the end of the bench. The night was dark, so was the lawn for the glowing kites were down and dead. The cold breeze blew against them, and she, plainly in a dress shivered against the wind. Whatever his purpose of bringing her here, it pushed her to a distracted state.

The stars were bright diamonds adorning the black sea above them. Leonard admired it as he patiently waited to hear the cry of the grandfather clock. He was waiting for the hour of the second sleep to introduce the Lady to an old friend.

"Why did you bring me here?" She broke the deafening silence between them. Impatience, he thought as he glanced at her sour face. She was scowling again.

"I am curious with your opinion about my society's endeavor?" His smile, though unseen by her blurry eyes, still made its way on his face.

"Can I be frank?" When he assented, she continued. "It is laudable and truly civic. I might join your society if I will please, but seeing that I am a woman of letters, I decipher that my help will not apply to your engagements with Science."

One witty woman, he laughed and took her hand, closing it in between his palms. It took her by surprise but he saw her submit to it. "If you will pay me a visit tomorrow, I might as well enlighten your doubt about a friend you are looking for. Pardon me for rudeness earlier, but you are just a bit unnerving. You are looking for _Len,_ are you not? I can show you to him. He will be glad."

"Are you planning to murder me if I do not join your civic society?"

"No, I do not intend to kill a _belle_ like you."

"Then, what do you mean by showing Len? Is he truly here?"

Leonard released her hand and stood, vigilant after hearing a rustling nearby. It seemed like today was not yhe day to introduce her to _his_ friend. Looking back at her, he flashed a smile - a smile that she detested - and spun his head around, searching where the rustling came from. His eyes lingered on a certain place before quickly leaning down to whisper the words, "I will bring you to _heaven_ and you will meet him."

Then he left her gawking at him, until she was called by Rei coming out of the bushes.

Note:

 _Ablenkung_ \- (German. diversion)

 _Blödsinn_ \- (German. nonsense)

 _Attaway_ \- English surname of Mid. English origins, lit. _At-the-way,_ given to people/families living close the road.

The record of history is **intentionally** altered here. True accounts: around 1830s, I think everything else about electricity is still a theory, our great geniuses are still experimenting on it in small scale (lol, I'm not sure). Bulbs are invented around 1870s or something. But I want to make Leonard and Lui appear that they are the first ones to work out these advancements of Industrial Revolution (Phase II), though unpublicized yet. This is done as a part of the plot. Again, this work is **fictional**. I don't know why is this so dull -chuckle-.


	14. The Eye Doctor

_The Classic Tale of You and Me:_

 _The Eye Doctor_

The year Miku and her uncle moved to Selbst Manor, the most beautiful woman in Essex was the first daughter of a rich merchant, Miss Haku Beryl. She had this long silky hair known for its pallor shade of blonde - almost white like snow. Men, young and old, bachelor or married, adored her in one way or another. Her grace made her more known in the land, and Mr and Mrs Beryl were too proud to have her as a child.

Miku Raleigh had not known her beauty for she was not in the right position to tell. Twelve and blind, who was she to disapprove of the hearsay?

But Mistress Haku's admirers flocking outside their lawn to see her every morning diminished, the gifts she received subdued, the bachelors trying to woo her retreated - beginning the day she was seen spending her day break with a young gentleman from London. He was said to be a childhood friend of hers, an attendant of the royal family for scholarly work. Fair, handsome, and kind, the two of them were promised to each other since the day they were born.

The year Miku turned fifteen, the most beautiful lady that lived in country was - unsurprisingly - the younger sister of Miss Haku Beryl, Lily Beryl. A bright, jubilant lady who was blessed with the ability to tame people through her vigor and smile. She had the pretty face much like her sister's, other than she was younger (eighteen against her twenty-and-one year old sister) and was not tied to anyone unlike Haku. So, the admirers her older sister used to have threw themselves back to their lawn. They gave her gifts, they complimented how she looked, she received proposals - they never got tired of her for she never had her eyes fixed for someone.

That was until she saw a young man of lilac hair strolling along the Park. She was enamored by his cold handsome face, and she could not stop herself staring at him. Since it was her first time feeling that thudding in her chest, she would go to the Park every morning just to see him. No matter how pretty she was with her morning dress, the young man never looked at her direction, nor glance at her even for the quickest moment. Along the process of making herself noticed by the unknown youth, her admirers still followed her secretly and satisfied themselves at the sight of her being unnoticed by the gorgeous young man.

It shattered the lady's heart when she saw him one morning with a young girl with silver blue or teal hair, clutching his hand as they walked slowly across the Park. He was speaking to the girl, and jealous was Lily, she wanted to hear his voice. And so, she maneuvered near him, heard him call her _'Miku',_ and learned that his name was Gakupo. The girl seemed to be a younger sister, if Lily was not mistaken.

Days went on like that, and she was prettier every day. Her bright golden hair hung in ringlets as she walked to the Park, her admirers had given up on her the way they did to her older sister. Lily refused the gifts her admirers would give, telling them that if they were not Gakupo (which is evident), they should stop courting her. The next morning came, she was waiting for over half an hour for him to walk there on his regular hour. She thought he would not show up for that morning, so Lily decided to leave for that day. However, as she passed by the rows of flowers glooming on what seemed to be a little garden, she saw the young man seated on the grasses with a beautiful lady of carnation hair. They were laughing together as he put her a flower crown, their sun-drenched smiles looked angelic.

Lily Beryl wanted to be positive. She thought that the lady must be like the younger lass he accompanied before. But he was smiling, laughing even better, and she had never seen that face of him on ordinary mornings. Lily decided to watch them afar, and her heart skipped a beat when he kissed the back of her hand, the lady looked even brighter. The lady was beautiful, that was no doubt. Was that the beauty he was after? Lily asked herself to witness the answer before her very own eyes. The lady's face was more beautiful than her sister's, the redness of her cheeks were natural unlike hers. It broke Lily's heart when the lady lifted up his face and gave him a chaste kiss on his lips.

He was flustered with the kiss so he just looked away, probably in embarrassment, but Lily saw him giving her hand a squeeze. Heart shattered in pieces, she finished watching them when he carried her to a wheeled chair and pushed her out of the Park. Lily realized that the beautiful lady was incapable of walking, that she was the only daughter of Marquis Weston. Dejected, Lily ran to her parents and asked them for her to attend a school or volunteer in the community; she begged them to give her anything to do just to keep her distracted.

The year Miku turned eighteen, she was _not_ the most beautiful lady living in Essex. It was just then that her sight was restored. Essex was a beautiful country, she knew it even before she got back her sight, but she was no more than beautiful than a worm from the earth. Her wrinkled forehead glaring at every passerby intimidated the unknown faces to her; her perfectly curved frown, her cynical manner of talking, she was totally unladylike. People named her "the disagreeable sour niece of the handsome Chancellor", but this title never bothered her. She would wander around their town wearing a jockey's pants and high-slitted riding habits with full sleeves. Sometimes, she would be seen racing with the lilac-haired man towards the Weston Manor to visit the daughter of the Marquis. Truly ungraceful, people thought of her that way.

What difference does it make if you are the most beautiful or not? If you are the second or the fifth, does beauty needed to be ranked? It would not make you the Princess of England or Empress of India if you are the most beautiful in Essex. All Miku cared was riding her horse, but not the mundane sidesaddle for women. She was more interested in practicing fencing with her uncle and Gakupo, than in combing her hair and dolling up herself. Her hair braided into two was fine and her jockey pants and riding habits were her best dresses.

Miku Raleigh was never known for a distinct beauty, but rather for her deviant behavior, her level of education, and being one of the few bluestockings who conversed occasionally with Princess Victoria. The Princess was known to be a stringent follower of the social norms - albeit just forced, but Miss Raleigh, being her witty self, behaved perfectly in front the princess. Her Majesty even called Miku the most beautiful lady she had seen, it was Miss Raleigh's smile that made the Princess claim that. The little news had its own wings and spread in Essex, and everyone secretly disagreed with the Princess, for no one in that sad beautiful land had seen Miku Raleigh to smile.

The morning sun peeped through the gaps of her curtains, showering light to Lady Miku's sleeping form curled beneath her sheets. Groaning against her pillow, Miku wanted to spend another hour on her bed.

But her dog was not as slothful as she was.

Barking loudly, he bit the hem of her blanket and pulled it away from her, tugging the lady away from her bed. Clara, who happened to pass by her room, heard the loud flump from inside and so, she barged in to see the mistress crouching on the wooden floor.

"Miku, are you fine?"

"This dog-bring him out in the lawn to pester Gakupo instead of me. Go, now, shoo." The sleepy lady tore the dog away from her blanket and curled back on her bed while Clara did what she instructed. Miku could still hear the dog barking downstairs as if it was excited to get out, and as though did what he did to her on purpose.

What struggle it was to come back to sleep after being fully waken, Miku buried her face on her pillow and hovered the blanket over her. She was doing her best to get back on a peaceful slumber, but her dog's loud barks still reached her ears, and no matter how she begged for her ears to close, it wouldn't. What kept her up more was Gakupo's yelling, throwing sticks for the dog to pick - and all sort of trick he was teaching the tall black dog.

The windows of her room opened in all of a sudden, shaking the pots of plants outside the oriel; few flowers dropped on the lawn. By the time she was gazing down with mad narrowed eyes, she could not see what kind of face Gakupo had because of the bright morning sun. She was even looking slightly on a wrong direction, but it did not stop her to yell, "Gakupo! Get the dog back here and let him sleep! He is too noisy!"

"Did you not ask Miss Clara to bring him down to play with me?" He asked.

"I said pester not play!" She replied.

"Whatever annoyed you, Miku. Don't start a ruckus to wake the entire neighborhood. You shout like a howling wolf. Get back to sleep, I will take the dog with me in Weston Man-" Gakupo was interrupted with another yell. She left the window and went back again with hair disarrayed.

"I am coming with you if you are going to visit Lady Luka!"

"No! You . . . cannot." His protest was unheard for she left the oriel as soon as she declared that, shutting the window close. Gakupo knew it was not a good timing to have her with him, her company would ruin everything between him and Marquis and Marchioness. He looked back at the dog with a sigh escaping his lips.

When Lady Miku Raleigh went out of the house dressed in a normal blue floral-printed morning dress, topped with _fichu-pelerine,_ concealing her shoulders and neck, her bonnet shaded her eyes from the bright sun. She whistled for the dog to follow her, walking ahead of Gakupo, whose disapproval of her company was written all over his face. Even if he never wished the Lady to come with him, he did no protest and let her be. Just as he watched her walk without grace, he remembered the mail he received earlier.

"Miku?" He ran to walk by her side. "You have received a letter from Kensington, London."

"What does it say?" Her eyes were kept on the road, staring through a great distance they were not heading to. This expression of her was acquainted to him, and she only put such flat expression whenever she was asked to travel some miles away from her town.

"Princess Victoria wishes to see you." His answer made her scowl and shrug. Her face was asking him to write a letter in response to the Princess - telling that she would not go according to the royalty's will. Miku said that she would not talk to Victoria as long as that Conroy was lurking around.

"Why is that so, Miku? It is the Princess asking for you."

"I will go if I want to. I do not take orders from her or from you, Gakupo. You have not met Duchess Victoria's attendant - he is one weird man! So queer and suspicious, I am afraid of his presence around when Baroness Lehzen took me with her one time." Miku quickly pinched her lips together, signalling no more discussion about her refusal to the Princess' favor.

The cool air whipped her face with a new color, redness flourished from her cheeks like roses. It was still summer, and early June never felt exciting for her. People wore lightweight and comfortable clothes; they spend more time staying out to run their businesses for the sun is up more or less than sixteen hours. A lot of ladies rode sidesaddles for the purpose of finding a lover or spending time with their betrothed. Above all these, the bright morning ruined Miku's day. She always wanted to go out without wearing a hat or a shawl draped on her head, but a year after her eye operation, she could not stand too much light anymore. This was how she began hating summer and its long daytime.

When she thought of this, she remembered that it was only two years ago when she had her sight back but it was beginning to show the same symptoms she experienced when she was seven. Back then, her arms were short and her hands were still small. She could not play the ivory elephants cut little in their cabinet without standing on a chair. Sometimes she would throw tantrums if her father would not allow her to go out and run in their gardens. She looked on things indifferently because she knew that it would be the same until she grew up, that everything around her would be the same colors and appearances for all her life. Back then, she never appreciated things she could see until she lost her sight - and she acted the same now, being stubborn and mean to everyone and everything.

To think of it, she realized how she behaved the same manner now with her sight back. When she spent short months in Green Fields, when she lost her sight back in the South, Miku was a different person. Of course, she knew enough of it. It needed no ample reasons why so. Once you lost something, you would know its importance, however this was not her case. When she met Len and Rei on her blindness, she forgot the importance of having her sight back.

'The most beautiful things are unseen. True beauty unsurpassed was not for the eyes to see, but for the eyes to confirm.' This lesson was what her two stable fellows taught her.

Miku stared at the feet of the man standing before her. Her head was stooping all the while she was musing, and the sight of these shoes halted her walk and thoughts. She lifted her face to the person before her and laid eyes to a towering man with hair colored like soot.

"Rei," she muttered, pulling back her dog that wanted to lunge at him.

"This must be Len's dog? Well, are you off to somewhere?" His eyes were sad, Miku thought to herself as she watched him bent down to pat the dog's head. Albeit Len's dog showed no recognition of him, he reached out to scratch its head and lift the dogs doubt towards him away. "There, there. Do you remember me now?"

"I will be glad if you can keep her company. I have a very important gathering to attend today, but Miku kept on insisting to come. I shall leave. Miku, take a hansom if you cannot stand to walk. Adieu," Gakupo bowed at her and ran away, leaving the lady to Rei.

Pulling him up by the hand, she walked him to the Park.

Birds twittered and chirped and hopped around their feet. Miku and Rei were seated on a wooden bench under a large tree in the Park. She was throwing crumbs of the bread she brought, but it was intended to be her breakfast for she left Selbst without one. They sat in silence as she fed the birds, the dog sat down on the gap between them.

Rei sighed. It was the third time already. After what happened last night in the ball, Miku felt quite awkward to begin the talk, well, not after he came out of the bushes and embraced her and cried on her shoulders. It was weird to see him bawl into tears, it was queer to have a knight snuggling to you, drenching your dress with tears. He did not tell her what happened that night, or at least she wished he would tell her. Last night was ambiguous, Rei came in a sudden and left without notice.

"I just want to apologize for what happened last night," his soft voice broke the silence, loneliness reflecting with that slight tremble. "I was lost when I walked away from your uncles. Perhaps running out to nowhere through the glass door came inconvenient."

Their eyes met for a short moment, until the dog hopped to sit on the bench too. This made the two laugh, the thick air of awkwardness faded in a blink of an eye.

"May I know what happened?" She smiled and threw crumbs to the birds again. "When you left Green Fields, that was the saddest voice I heard. But your hoarse voice as you sobbed yesterday, your sullen greeting to me today, I think it is sadder."

"True that," he looked up to the sunlight peeking through the gaps of leaves above him, and listened to the chirruping of the birds. "I think I was the one who killed Len."

"What!" The slice of bread she was holding fell on the ground as she sat upright on her seat. That declaration was unlikely, unexpected. "How come you killed him?"

"Len told me the truth the night before I left. You met Sir Rinto that morning, did you not? I never thought he was speaking of me, being the lost prince. I should have not left,"

"You are!" She exclaimed, making the dog leap back on the ground. When the birds flew, the dog tried chasing them. "You are a prince!" But her excitement died as soon as her words subsided in her mind.

"And I was serving the wrong kingdom." Upon the mention of kingdom, it was an impetus for Miku to rise and curtsey in front of him. It was as if he turned into a different person.

"Greetings, Your Highness." She bowed and looked at him. "I shall obe-"

"Miku, no. Please, take your seat. I don't want any of these." He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to seat. "I am not crowned, and even if I am, you don't have to do that. So, please. Sit."

She nodded and stayed still, keeping an eye on her black dog chasing the birds. "Are you the Prince of Portia or Queenland?" The dog ran back to Miku, barking with his loud mouth.

"Queenland, said your uncles. I am the lost son of their King Oliver."

"Why does it sadden you?"

Rei sighed again, more audible than earlier. He stood and walked few steps away from the bench, then faced her. His amber eyes mirrored his crestfallen heart, looking anywhere but her. He was looking at his empty seat, at the trees, at the flowers, at the few passerby - anywhere but her for she reminded him of Len's inquisitive eyes. Birds flew down, hopping again, this time around his feet, and chirruped and twittered, and the dog chased them again.

"It simply doesn't feel right. I wish to carry my Queen's emblem and do my skills justice, but it happened that I am fancy of it in a wrong way. I carried the wrong emblem, I swore loyalty to the wrong kingdom, I reached my dream without Len reaching his." He turned his back and laughed, but she knew it was not a heartful one. His irony was too obvious and Miku knew that strength was not born from a palatial pretense. "I need to leave now, Miku. I heard from Sir Leonard last night that you have an appointment with him. So, he is an eye doctor? Come to think of it, I never had seen his face yet. How does he look?"

There was a lump in her throat. Miku gawked at Rei as she thought what she would tell him, or how she would describe Leonard's appearance. It was _vexatious._ Describing how Leonard looked was the worst query asked to her. She gazed at Rei's face without batting an eye and analyzed how the knight looked, and decided that he was a pretty man.

Rei's smile is a beautiful one, too.

But Leonard's smile, there was something more with his smile - like the fact that she could _hear_ his smile. She could _hear_ it and not just see.

How was she supposed to put Leonard in words without sounding like an enamored dog? Or at least without sounding like dreamy Lady Luka? It bothered Miku already - thinking about Leonard made her feel cross and smitten (slightly) and it wasn't a nice feeling.

She gaped at Rei, staring at his curious amber eyes. He and Leonard both looked fair and handsome. Now, how to say it?

"He is-" she choked back her words as Rei looked more interested to ask. However, it made her doubt her own words and rethink of the way how to put it.

"He is?" He repeated, waiting for her to continue after that sudden pause.

"He is looking fine, just like any other blond. Well, I think I have to go now, Rei - I mean, Your Highness." She was about to curtsey when he stopped her, asking her not to do it for he needed it not. She smiled briefly then whistled to her dog, and left the Park with Rei walking on the opposite distance.

As Rei walked under the sun, still gloomy even if he already shared what was tying him down. It was as if he needed this to be told to Len and not Miku, not that he did not feel comfortable with her, but because Len Ackerman was his only confidant. After all, she and Len were much closer to each other; and Rei, himself, was drawn to her because Len talked about her and her skills in playing piano. Albeit he met her first before Len.

As he walked out of an alley, he saw the distant small field. It was green and still young, crops planted for summer were sprouting out of the ground like curious dwarfs staring at the blue sky. Rei smiled, an idea flourished in his head. "After my stay here, I will go back to Green Fields and confirm everything to myself."

Miku paid them no mind. She was marching along the neighborhood and the ladies were staring at her in a rather queer, envious, evil way as though their curled lashes were asking for her to trip and break a bone. Like she would, anyway. Her eyes were just blurry, but she was not blind. If she was, the dog would lead her. In a usual day, nobody paid her attention. She was hated when Princess Victoria called her beautiful, and her mother, Duchess Victoria, also agreed at the Princess' flattery. Shortly after that - she was nineteen when that happened - people began to ignore her presence wherever, but continued ridiculing her deviant ways unless she was with Sir Leon.

"Sir Tonio!" She called as soon as she reached their manor, the majordomo who was spending his time reading under a tree perked up his head and raised his spectacle to look at her.

"Lady Miku," he stood and offered her his seat, but she refused. Her face was scowling again, upbringing the sour face she used to wear when so vexed. "What makes our young dame annoyed?"

It was _them._ Not the Irish fairies, though. It was _them,_ the insecure, spiteful, bitter girls who cared nothing in this world other than to get a lover and marry and leave the country. "I am not mistaken with this little quiet ruckus outside, am I? The ladies are glaring at me, that's far from usual, Sir Tonio. They will ignore me on normal days. Well, they are supposed to ignore me today. I really don't mind them, I don't. But it feels odd. What do you say?"

The majordomo smiled and looked at her before placing his closed book atop the little table. The sun is beginning to scorch, they should get inside soon. "Do you want to hear why?"

"Yes, I am curious."

"They are jealous of you. Many people have seen you last night with the masters of Lemmings Manor, and with the beautiful knight from Portia - this morning. They might be thinking you stole them," Miku gaped at him. The deadlock vanished when the lady laughed - with no grace at all, bothering herself not to cover her mouth but to clutch her stomach.

"That is ridiculous!" She panted. "What did I steal? Those boys? Those _boys?_ Absurd. Fetch me Pico and I will leave." She was soon back to her old cold self, dismissing the thought those imbeciles - or ladies - had about her. The majordomo left to call the coachman, and she spent her short time pondering about getting a bite of her prepared breakfast or not. But the brougham arrived soon, so she decided not to get inside the manor. "Is Uncle Leon in his study? Tell him I will be visiting Sir Leonard d' Alembert." With that, Miku left.

Under the bright blue sky, she stood outside the tall pointed gates of Lemmings Manor. It was quiet uphill, and the lawn was mowed and cleaned. It was a mess when they left last night, she knew that. She shifted weights as she stood there, her arms crossed on her chest. Her fingers were tapping on her arm, imitating the ticking of the clock inside her head, counting how many seconds had passed since she rang the bell.

"This eye doctor is making me impatient," she mumbled, pressing a finger in between her furrowed brows. It was a habit of hers to massage that spot to calm herself, taught by Clara. Her attendant said Miku would grow lines on her faces if she kept on scowling from time to time, as though scowl is her natural smile.

But smiling forms lines on your faces too, how does it differ? She still could not understand these people's myths.

Miku was almost absorbed by her thought when she heard the screeching sound of the opened gates, and a fair woman stood before her. Her hair was of average length, dark blonde, and wavy. She was waiting for Miku to come in, but the lady was still staring at her.

"Mistress Miku, please come in."

"Oh," Miku winced, "oh, that." She walked inside and waited for her to lock the gates. When done, she walked beside her as they head to the manor. "Where is Len . . . ?" She was supposed to say Leonard but her tongue paused at the first syllable* of his name, Len. Her purpose of visiting Lemmings Manor was for her eye to be checked by him, for she only half believed about Len's stay in the manor. This stirred the housemaid, making her whip her head to gape at Miku.

So, it is true. Len is here.

"How did you know his name?" The maid asked, dragging her away from the manor. "Aside from Sir Rinto, his son and I, no one else had known his name." The housemaid looked horrifying more than horrified, and Miku wanted to tear her grip on her arm.

"Len Ackerman, Len of Green Fields - we are friends back in Portia. I thought he was dead until Sir Leonard told me -"

"He told you!" This time, the maid released her hand as she heaved a sighed. The maid looked relieved, smiling at Miku with serenity. "Everyone taught he was mad, but he was not, Mistress. He was a very talented child. No one wanted to help him, but he was such a brilliant child."

"I thought he was dead." Miku's voice was flat, showing no emotions at all, still doubting whether this maid was telling the truth, or if Leonard instructed this maid to tell these things to fool her.

"In this house, only Sir Leonard believes that he is dead, Sir Rinto and Sir Lui do not. But somehow, he is. He is easily forgotten and buried for he is such a fragile young man with a child's heart. He spoke of his mistress and his knight, he spoke about the lost prince and his _dear wind,_ crying himself to sleep every night. He was being sorry for everything he-"

Miku was lured to listen more with her talk, the maid described the Len - Miku knew. It was just like the last time she saw Len, he was despondent, and now, this maid spoke of him like he was still the same, lamenting for nine years of - Miku grabbed the maid's hand to urge her to continue, but a figure towering both of them had his hand on the maid's shoulder.

"What could be this serious talk, Miss Ann?" Leonard smiled at the maid and Miku watched the maid's face harbor fright. His smile was cunning and sly at the same time; it was speaking something Miku could not understand. "You can go now and prepare our midday dinner, Miss Ann. It seems like my guest is hungry enough to clutch on her belly that way. Am I correct, Mistress Miku?"

Miku did not realize that she was enduring the churning of her stomach the moment this _Ann_ spoke about Len, and she rather felt embarrassed for being caught. But she could not deny anymore, it was so evident. "Yes," such small word, still she stammered. The housemaid bowed and left, leaving the two of them alone. This time, Leonard held her hand and escorted her inside the huge manor.

It was a spacious manor with hundreds of rooms that was almost shut. How can three people and two house servants maintain this place, anyway? Last night, Miku was sure that there were a lot of helpers and servants, but the whole manor looked empty by now - so empty and desolated that if you shout, it would echo twice as loud before it fade. She saw her cousin reading a book in the sitting room, Sir Rinto was playing the violin. Leonard led her to a flight of short steps that mounted to longer ones until they reached a room after turning from one corridor to another. It was a nice room with glass walls, making the room illuminated by the sunlight.

She hated how bright it was.

"You can take off your bonnet, Mistress Miku."

The couch screeched as she slumped down, back facing the glass walls. If Leonard bragged their discovery about _electricity,_ Miku found it unnecessary to have a room constructed this way. Nevertheless, she remembered that they only moved in this manor. She was pushed back to lean against the headrest, Sir Leonard was standing beside her. Albeit surprised, she did not complain and let him look at her eyes.

But not for so long.

Miku grabbed his right wrist as she stood and pulled it behind him, alarmed because he was holding a scalpel. "Are you trying to kill me?"

He stepped back, pushing himself to her. She did not understand what was going on, never realized that she loosened her grip on his hand shoved behind him. After a swift movement she was unable to register, she was pushed down on a stool, his smile triumphed her.

"I am going to remove the cataracts, what else?" He smiled, pulling a seat of his own. Instead of badmouthing him with his sudden decision to do her operation on the spot, she studied his way of clothing. Ordinary loose linen shirt tucked in his trousers, high fitted-boots, hair - despite caught in a pony - disarrayed. Sir Leonard dropped his scalpel on a aluminum basin together with other tools.

"Are you riding a horse earlier?" Her question must explain why he did not welcome her, why a maid asked her in, and why he suddenly came amid the talk of the housemaid. When he pushed her against the headrest, that also explained why his forehead was sweating, or why his golden fringe stuck together like leaf blades, or why his hands were warm when he lead her in.

"The doctor who did your operation is a coward. He did not clear your eyes from cataract, for there is still a thick mass across your irises, some are already hovering over your pupil, albeit thinly. I shall remove it soon to maintain your eyesight," was his answer instead. He propped his elbows on his knees and leaned against his hands clasped together, eyes staring at her. He was smiling again. The sly one.

"I do not want it to be removed," she replied, crossing her legs, "if I will be blind, then shall be it. Since Rei has come back, I have this feeling that things will be better if I cannot see anymore."

"That is a queer reasoning. Then, I suppose you came here for _Len?"_ Leonard asked, pulling his sweat-soaked forelocks away from his eyes. "Or, is it you wanted His Royal Highness of Queenland to look after you?"

She wanted for him to quit smiling for two reasons: first, she was irritated by his smile; second, she was distracted by his face becoming more gorgeous whenever he does. Her visitation today was for her eye condition; a little because she wanted to confirm whether Sir Leonard was as attractive as he was last night - with his mask off, of course; assuring Len is alive is a probable reason; and more likely because she wanted to know why he was eager in persuading her to join his society.

But she would say the last one since it seemed more gallant. "I did not come here for him. Len is already at peace, you and I both know that." She replied, holding her breath as she stared back at his eyes. "Prince Rei is a good friend and the truth be told, I have spent my brief days in Portia with him."

"What if I break that belief of yours and tell you that he is not at peace?" His deep voice resonated in her head, posing more threats and confusing her which way this talk will lead to. "However, I think he is happy last night."

Len is dead. Only Sir Leonard believes he is dead. He, alone, believes that Len is dead. In this house, only Sir Leon does. How can she trust this person and his claims, when his housemaid said it to her already? Why is he doing this? To lure her to him and join his society?

 _You do not play dice with a bluestocking,_ Miku sneered at him. "I came here for you, Sir Leonard. Your proposal for me to join your civic society, I know that the reason why you ask me is beyond the tales you told last night. I saw the papers in the room where you let me change, it was all about Princess Victoria and I. Do you wish to talk to her being King William's successor? What exactly do you plan, Sir Leonard?"

He smiled at her - more vibrant this time - with his eyes narrowing as though it smiled too. Of course, she was smitten by that, he looked like a child so delighted with what he heard. "Truly brilliant! You managed to peek at the documents laid away from the closet, Mistress Miku! Did you think I left it there on purpose? I saw you study the papers earnestly. You hadn't notice my presence in that room, had you?"

"You were there!" She exclaimed.

"I was there!" He confirmed.

"I was only dressed in my chemise!"

"You were! I had seen a lot!"

"Peeping Tom!"

"I am not," he chuckled, covering his mouth with his hands. "I have no interest with your body, but you are fit. Must be because of your fencing? - You are the peeping Tom, those are my belongings!"

"Bastard!" She threw him her bonnet and covered her face red in embarrassment. "How can you watch a lady dress herself - I will not doubt if you have seen me naked!"

"You weren't naked, stop lying. You went out of the bath wearing a chemise, don't trick me, Mistress Miku." He smiled.

He smiled? Why did he keep on smiling? She was getting flustered and all, losing the tiny fraction of grace she possessed.

"You never trusted me at all, correct? I am only hoping to talk a little with the royalties, and only you can help me. The monarchs of Portia would not listen to me," he stood and opened the door as the housemaid handed him a tray of their victuals. He set it on the nearby table with two stools and beckon her.

"Thank you," she took her seat as they ate their midday dinner.

The two of them were quiet until they finished their meal, and he escorted her back to the couch for them to talk. He was always like that, graceful and noble in everything he does, and she was getting a little envious because he acted a lot like that around her.

"Shall I continue my tale?" He asked.

"Pray, do so."

"Have you ever been in Portia?"

"Yes, but have not seen it. I was still blind that time."

"Portia is a rising kingdom, but its national wealth is nothing compared to Britain's. It can be helped, but none of the aristocrats believed me." Seriousness could be seen in his voice and face, he must be telling the truth now. "I want to begin the Industrial Revolution in Portia. Have you seen how such changed the fate of this Kingdom? It escalated the national wealth and diminished famine and increased labor force - but no one in Portia believed this. They wanted independence, no assistance from other kingdoms that can be their allies. But no, those rattleskulled nobles never let me spoke to the King, and insisted that the king won't hear me out."

Miku was about to ask why was he so concerned with the Kingdom of Portia; she was about to tell him that his propositions mirrored Len's philosophy; she was about to inquire if he had met Len if he really meant that he _is_ alive. But all of these were drowned inside her head - swallowed back like the lump in her throat - when a loud squeal was heard from the door of the room.

Miku wanted to faint now.

Lady Lily stood there, lips painted red, gawking at her and Sir Leonard. She was dressed as extravagant as usual. The only thing new with her was her top hat. Her eyes stared at Miku, then to the gorgeous young man Miku was talking with, then back to Miku while screaming like an immodest lady she was when no one other than Haku and Miku was around.

"Is he your fiancé?"

Miku's face drained its colors when those words echoed in the room.

"What are you doing here? What are you saying?" Miku stammered as she stood, grabbing Lily's hand so they could leave, but the blonde shrugged her away, walking towards Leonard who was not moving from his seat.

"Sir Gakupo was officially betrothed with Lady Luka. I wasn't surprised you did not know - Sir Tonio said you left to go here instead of visiting him and Lady Luka. So, so, this must be the reason? Good-day, sire. The name is Lily Beryl. Are you Lady Miku's lover or fiancé?" She stood before the seated Leonard. His elbow was propped on the armrest of the couch, his head was tiltled against his propped hand.

"I am Lady Miku's lover,"

Miku's sour expression resurfaced hearing that. Stomping her feet and grabbing Lily's hand rather brusquely, she dragged the lady out of the house.

"I am your lover, Mistress Miku." He said, chuckling like his normal mischievous self, and she knew better than to listen to his senseless retorts.

 _"Wenn die Hölle zufriert!"_ Miku left Lemmings Manor preaching Lily that she should not follow Miku's whereabouts if she could not stand seeing Gakupo tied to someone else. But she released Lily's hand when she forgot something inside that room.

"Miss Lily, go ahead of me. I forgot my bonnet."

A/N:

*Leonard - /ˈlɛnɚd/ - we all know that the first sound is Len: Len-ard (Leonard). Tadaa! Yes, there is something more between Leonard and Len.

Ackerman - this English surname denotes a person who lived near a field, from Middle English _acker_ or Old High German _ackar,_ meaning _fields._

 _"Wenn die Hölle zufriert!"_ \- lit. "When Hell freezes over!" (aww, Miku's a tsundere -haha-)

You can notice that the chapters after Len allegedly died are Miku-centric. That's because I want the readers to have a limited information whatever is happening here. It's no fun if the truth is revealed soon - since it is _twisted_. Thanks for the kind reviews from the previous chapters!


	15. The Round Table

_The Classic Tale of You and Me:_

 _The Round Table_

An oil lamp seated atop the messy table lit the room. He was there, crouching towards the table, face almost buried as he dipped the nib of the feather to the ink. His fingers guided the nib to write neat curls of the characters forming the message he has to relay. In the middle of the night, he was writing a letter. He was writing a letter for His Majesty, King William IV, to propose an alliance.

His golden fringe fell a centimeter above his nose bridge as he kept on writing, trembling fingers dipped the nib on the ink again. There he wrote the words that ought to change the fate of his motherland; he wrote the words he could never say as himself. Pale fingers continued to write.

When he finished, he signed at the bottom of the paper.

 _Len Ackerman._

"You have to rest, Len." Leonard said as he watched the tired man folding the letter and inserting it inside an envelope. "Let us hope they will read that."

"They will." Len said, voice trembling as though he was afraid of someone's presence inside the room, blue forlorn eyes threatened to close due to exhaustion. "Believe me, they will." His quivering fingers placed the letter on the table, securing it under the book he used to read to have a good night rest while humming a lullaby Lady Miku sang him before.

"You only heard that song once," remarked Leonard as he kept an eye on his coward friend, putting his hum into words. _"Fremd bin ich eingezogen, fremd ziech ich weider aus. Der Mai war mir gewogen . . ."_

Len nodded and flashed a wavering smile. "I can never forget the song that comforted me, telling me that at the end of the day, I will always have a good night." He was always fretful, stammering with his words whenever he talks to Leonard or to Miss Ann, the housemaid. His hands shook in nervousness, his eyes kept on looking everywhere as if the place where he was kept changes every time he wakes. Len Ackerman was always thought mad.

Leonard d' Alembert was with Len ever since. He was his strength, his voice when he could not speak, his hands when he could not fight. Leonard was the only one who helped Len to achieve the little things he had now, and he was the only one who knew to where would his plans to Portia would lead to.

The eloquent gentleman Leonard has become is a result of Len's ideas and writings; he is a result of Len's self disappointments, making Leonard a person Len wished he is. Leonard knows everything about Len for he is there beginning the day Len woke up after he fell from a cliff; beginning the day he promised Len that he will never leave.

Len almost forgot who he was. He was dead every morning, alive by the second sleep - midnight - and only Leonard could understand why. 'The dead forgets everything,' Leonard told him when they first met, he was twelve. That was the same time Lui and Sir Rinto found him unconscious washed at the shore of Dublin. 'Everyone thought you are dead, you must forget - your grievances included. Let us start over, the two of us, and achieve your dreams.' Those were the words Len held close to him, but never had he tried to forget - never, howbeit Leonard was persistent in wishing him to forget. Leonard taught Len that through forgetting pain would be neglected, too, but it was Len who insisted that his _pains_ were his _memories_. Other words, he could never let it go.

That morning when Lui bumped into a lady, Leonard said he met Len's _wind - his_ precious _wind_ who promised to carry all his grievances away. The gentleman declared his intentions towards the lady - of using her to talk with the royal successor to make their plans happen. But Len had had no intentions of getting her involved. He was glad getting a glimpse of her - that she was fine, and Rei too, but he never wanted them to be caught in this tangled knots he had sewn.

"Miku," Len muttered, clasping his hands together as he smiled at the paper plane he placed atop his favorite book - a paper plane, a dream he wanted to come true, an innovation no one thought of yet. "She grew up into a fine lady," his voice was shaking as if he was cold, even if all the windows of the room was closed.

Len endured the silence and kept on staring at the paper plane, his tired eyes looked mesmerized not by the object in front him, but at the image of his Mistress being pictured in his mind. Leonard watched him closely, studying how the tired prodigy seemed too dreamy. "Tha' likes th' lass?"

Len laughed at him, it was a shy laughter too. "I can say that I am fond of her since the day she asked the wind to take my sadness away. Well, what do you think of her?"

"Thy lass is such a sour, nasty tempered, disdainful lady." Leonard shrugged - seemingly displeased with her grumpy side, for in reality, wo would like an unladylike lady - but as he recalled how furious she was when she came back to get her bonnet, he smiled.

"You should have seen her smile, Leonard. It is like an angel's smile shining from the heavens." Len said, intertwining his fingers.

"Well, ah want t' remove her cataracts. Then, what do tha' say 'bout th' knight?"

"Rei is strong! He is a fine man. I am glad he is happy, even without me. Everything is revealed to him now, right? How is he after your duel?" Len walked towards the bed and sat on it, still smiling at the image of Rei and Miku in his head.

"Well enow. He's a strong man like tha' says. Us jus' beat 'im through breakin' conventions." The skeptic blond watched his identical image chuckle and smile, his bliss flickered like the lamplight.

Len was powerless against Leonard; Leonard was powerless against Len - but Len did not realize this.

"Good morning, Leonard." Len muttered as he laid himself on his bed, watching the paper birds - hanging from the ceiling through the strings - to encircle each other.

"Good night, Len." Leonard replied.

With that, Len's sight blackened.

Mistress Miku Raleigh had her surly expression again. Arms crossed against her chest, she sat on the leather cushion with her brows nearly bumping. The Beryls were seated before her, Lady Haku was staring at the moor from the window of the brougham, and Lady Lily was staring at Miku with a blank expression.

"Why am I dragged with you, Miss Beryl and Miss Beryl? I respect that the reason for that gloomy face of yours was Gakupo's betrothal with Lady Luka, but my sympathy never had given permission for the two of you to literally take me away from Selbst." Miku waited for a response from the two ladies, but what answered her was the melody Lady Haku blew from her harmonica.

The silence extended for another mile, Mistress Miku was crossed watching Lady Lily stare onto nothingness. Miku could not endure her stillness - but her concern was Lady Lily, on how she could endure her own silence when she was never born to shut up even for a single second.

"This whole arrangement is queer, Lady Haku. Where are we headed?"

"Buckingham Palace."

Miku kept quiet again, averting her eyes from Lady Haku to Lady Lily. The blond was sulking as she leaned her chin against her hand, loneliness clouded her unusual glum eyes. It was beginning to bother the surly lady - the sight of Lady Lily this still was like a bad omen signalling a chaos ahead of them.

Miku let an hour of silence to pass, in which she fell asleep along the way, and when she opened her eyes they were somewhere noisy and crowded with people. A lot of hansom passed by them, heaps of people dressed more extravagant than Lily Beryl walked along the cobbled ground. It was never Miku's pleasure to be in a place as teeming as this, so this explained as well why she refused to visit Princess Victoria in Kensington - but it was more like she loathed Sir John Conroy. What bothered Miku more was the face Lady Lily had when Miku looked at her. She was still leaning towards her hand like the last hour Miku had seen her, still staring into nothingness through the window of the brougham.

"Miss Lily Beryl, you are beginning to scare me with your odd behavior."

"Please, do not be bothered. This is just like me on the saddest part of my life. Never have I thought that love can make a person feel this melancholic, never at all. The poems I have read, the literatures I have seen - it all spoke of love as though it was only bright things and beautiful."

Miku sagged her shoulders hearing Lily's voice for the first time today, and she wanted to breathe in fresh air because of what she heard. "Perhaps you forgot to read Petrarch's sonnets? He spoke of his unrequited love for the mysterious Madam Laura."

"I cannot busy myself reading lonely writings, Lady Raleigh," was Lily's answer, stooping her head as she clasped her hands together. Such gesture bewildered Miku, it dawned to her how serious was this talk for Lily and she should not fool around. "If passages can make me feel happy and loved, what more if I read something sullen?"

"But look at you! You always want things to be blissful and so on. You are dodging downcast feelings so here you are, never acquainted with pain and sadness!" Argued Miku, but to her surprise, the words she thought wise made the blond shook her shoulders and cry.

"Then please tell me if you have loved a person as much as I loved Gakupo, Lady Raleigh!"

Lily must be that mad to call her by her surname.

"Well, I love my uncles, I love my parents even they're in the South. I love my horse and Len's dog and - "

"You spoke of familial and platonic love! You do not understand love at all! If your love is a grass, my love for Gakupo is a tree - and it's too different!"

This took Miku by surprise. "Are you saying that my love is small compared to yours? That yours is a different thing?"

"Absolutely! For you always feel complete by yourself, like you never needed to find your other half!"

That is an unjust reasoning, Miku thought as she remembered the concept Lily was talking about - it is based on the Greek myth about soulmates. It is a myth, why is she using this as an argument? Her lack of interest in finding a lover cannot be explained this way. Miku is about to answer the lady bawling in tears when she is interrupted by Haku's fan raised in between her and Lily.

Miku and Lily did not notice that they reached their destination already, and they should reserve their voices later. Heaving a sigh, Miku went out of the brougham dragging the trunk with her and faced the most beautiful architecture she had seen so far.

Rei and Fukase, mounted on their horses, wandered around the downtown with the bright summer sun above them. Yesterday's encounter subjected Rei to rethink of all the thoughts he had - and that included the sudden throbbing his heart made when Miku smiled at him. It was when they were talking and Len's dog hopped in between them, that was the first time he saw Miku smile - as a lady and not as the girl he had in his memory. He pondered about this over the night, feeling as uneasy as he felt when he learned that he was the lost Prince.

Rei might had told her that she had grown into a fine lady, but that was half-true until he saw her the next morning, and he was caught off guard. Now, he was obsessed with her smile. The way the corner of her lips pulled up and her eyes narrowed and her face looked delighted - it was unlike before when they were young, when she used to laugh as they played kite. Or maybe, it was him who thought it was different, because it appealed to him in an estranged manner.

The knight looked troubled in Fukase's eyes. Since he woke up, the knight kept the same face he was making now, conflicted and preoccupied. Sir Rei was rather indifferent when they ate their meal for he had no appetite to finish his victuals, nor to praise the sweetened tea served to them. The knight rarely nodded to his knights when they met him while they roamed near the the Park. In fact, Fukase caught him staring at a specific bench where most pigeons perched. It was strange, Sir Rei was acting strange - thought Fukase as they continued their aimless wandering. It could be possible that he was sick, or something else more.

"Sir Rei - " the redhead was silenced when the knight suddenly chuckled, but it was so quick, so quick he suddenly sighed. It sounded despaired. "Is something bothering you?"

Fukase watched how the knight looked up to the blue sky, his vibrant eyes earlier were now clouded. "I wonder what Len thinks of her smile back in Green Fields."

" _Her_ smile?" Fukase repeated, quite puzzled to hear his mentor talk about a woman.

"Lady Raleigh - I am talking about her. I wonder if Len felt this way for all the times he spent with her. What do you think, Fukase?"

"I am afraid I do not understand you."

The knight focused on the road again, this time he was back to his normal self. "Fukase, this is love." Astounded, Fukase gaped at him as though his Sir Rei said the most unbelievable thing in the world. "Well, our concern now is the gathering in Buckingham. We have to leave before twelve, let us get back in Old Oak to thank our landlord."

The night claimed the skies of London unnoticed. Its busyness being the center of Britain's powers made time neglected, especially to the people who were playing for the royalties and politicians in the Buckingham Palace. The spouses of the officials were the ones too festive tonight, while the officials themselves were locked away in a different grand room for a secluded meeting.

Miku's fingers pressed hard on the ivory keys, ending the tenth lively song they played for these intoxicated nobles who never varied from the low classes when drunk. They were all the same, she mused to herself remembering the night in Lemmings. Nobles were just afraid to be compared to people of lower social statuses, but they were all the same. This time she left the stool to calm down her tired hands. As soon as she left her stool for about three steps away, Lui replaced her and gestured her to leave.

"What a cold hog," Miku muttered as she stepped down of that elevated stage, disappearing from the fancy hall through a door. The cool summer wind washed the folds of her face, interrupting the wrinkling of her forehead due to the scowl she had since the ball began. It was simply because of Lily's words she could not push out of her mind, it was disturbing enough to make her petrified with her definition of love.

Resigning the thoughts she had because of the wonderful view of London from that long balcony, her feet scampered down the series of hallways until the music from that grand hall could not be heard. Her eyes glistened at the sight of the small faint lights from the gas lamps illuminating the streets. Never she had known that nights could be this pretty, true to London for it is the center of commerce and people rarely sleep. Her little fascination urged her to run more into different hallways - as long as the lights of the sleepless London were there - the cold summer breeze pinched her face until it was numb.

Miku Raleigh stopped when everything felt still and everlasting. There she stood against the waist-high railings, breathing in the cool air of her hated summer season. She watched the lights from this city flicked and moved like ants, it must be the hansoms offering rides albeit it was already late in the evening. She blissfully stared at the tiny orbs of lights in the vicinity, a small smile lit her pale pink lips. It was like the stars from the sky, although these lights were ephemeral unlike the real stars. Her eyes fluttered, indulging the calming atmosphere the lamplights of London offered her.

Pressing her eyes closed, she tried listening to the whizzing of the wind, to distant marching horses, to the silent twinkling of the stars above her. In the darkness, she could still see everything - it was like when she was blind, but she could feel everything. Miku did not open her eyes as she acquainted herself with the old dark world she used to live in for eleven years. There was an appreciation deep in her heart when the wind blew against her, her twin braids waved with the breeze; the wind circled her feet, caressed her face, and misted her eyes.

She was crying. Miku was gleefully crying. This was how her world looked when Len and Rei were still with her, back in their old days in Green Fields. The feeling of soft grasses beneath your feet when you march on them, the strong wind from the wheat fields that you could not stand if you were frail, the scent of farm animals' excrement in the barn - it were all relived as Miku closed her eyes and thought of herself blind again. It was as if the girl she used to be, the kind and soft-spoken lass everyone pitied, came back to life at that moment.

The memory of her overnight stay at the barn clambered in her mind, the voices she heard that night when they conversed replayed with the blurry images of two stable lads who slept beside her. Miku was unable to stop the tears streaming down her cheeks as the memory went on, and _his_ voice - it echoed. " _Of course, I like him a lot. He's my best friend. But I can't keep him by myself, he has his dream. And it's in his reach. I'll be happier if he achieve it, alright?"_

Len, her heart ached when she remembered those words from him, nine forgotten years ago. Len, his name sounded odd as she murmured it, for it made her heart twitch and skip a beat. Len, if she would keep on calling him, would he stand by her side again and be her guide in her dark world?

 _"If your love is a grass, my love for Gakupo is a tree - it's too different!"_ Lily's voice interfered her reminiscence, posing a bigger question Miku already mumbled the answer thrice." _Then please tell me if you have loved a person as much as I loved Gakupo, Lady Raleigh!"_

Len.

This is the fourth time.

Miku opened her eyes after the sudden enlightenment. For nine long years she never let him leave her thoughts, she kept him alive there; Miku kept his dreams and his smiles and his tears and his laments - she kept his whole being alive in her memories. And though it pained her to recall his smiles and his expressions only through what her imagination painted it, for she never had seen it other than felt, her desire to keep him alive after his alleged death lasted for nine years of mourning. And now, he was said alive.

 _My love is not a grass,_ Miku cried silently as she stepped away from the railing before she may thought of jumping. Her love was not a tiny fraction of earth trimmed every day, it wasn't. Her love was her tears and suffering and pain for nine years of wondering what Len could have been if he was alive - her love was a universe of tears and suffering and pain, wondering what was he like after nine years he was thought dead.

"I understand it now," she said, deciding to come back to the hall and apologize for her insensitivity against Lily. If Lily's unrequited love for Gakupo was a tree, then Miku's love was a thousand forests. "I will apologize to her," she turned around but was puzzled.

She forgot the way back because she ran away from the hall without thinking. Muttering her disgust, she randomly walked on the path, wishing that she would bump into a servant that could guide her back - until she passed by an open door in the corridor she randomly entered.

"Prime Minister, what causes that displeased look of yours?"

"The letter you gave me is a bold proclamation of war."

"Pardon, did you say war?"

"Yes, war. It suggests a war to win the Kingdom of Portia and make it a part of our Kingdom. The letter says we can make use of the resources of this kingdom. Starting a war against this kingdom, I'm quite unsure. What do you think of it?"

"Broadening our kingdom is never a misleading path for it will increase the national wealth and economy - "

Miku tore herself away from the room and dashed straight that hallway, wherever it may lead her. Uncertainty filled her chest as she desperately fled away from the room without her presence noticed. She wanted to find her uncle and tell him about it - only if he was here. She left Selbst ahead of him because she was to play piano, so she expected him to be around by now. With her skirt slightly pulled up to make her sprint quicker, Miku panted as she turned right at the end of that hall - following the music she could faintly hear. She suddenly halted when there was no other way to enter. Braids whipping as she snapped away from it, she tried running along the same hall and turned into a different corridor, the sound of the music was a little louder than before. Her heavy steps thudded in that dead quiet hall, resonating like a squeal in a cave.

There was no light nor opened doors at the end of the corridor where she was, but the music was beginning to grow louder. A lot of inanimate eyes from the canvases hanging on the wall seemed to watch her, their faces forgotten in time watched the lady as she scampered down the corridor. But like the other hall, there were no other turns to be made. Miku pressed her hand against the tapestried wall, feeling the vibrations of the trumpets and cellos and woodwind instruments and the marching steps of people waltzing in the ball, they were behind these wall.

Miku ran back again, this time noticing the weird faces painted on the canvases hanging from the wall. They were mocking her, their faces deprived of any emotion were laughing at her desperate attempt to leave the maze-like hallways of this palace. This place was thrice larger than Lemmings Manor, or even more than thrice. She hurriedly left the hallway and ran away from the same room where she overheard the Prime Minister. The doors were closed this time so she paid no attention how loud her steps now, they were heavy as she followed the lights of London from the balcony. As soon as the cool breeze kissed her sweat-soaked forelocks, she turned right, but she froze on her place. The Prime Minister was walking away with his attendant, and if she would make a loud step, they would turn to look at her direction and they would realize that she was listening to them earlier-but it was just a possibility.

Or she could pretend like she was lost just now, and she needed to get back in the hall as soon as possible. But it was more probable that they would assume she was a spy from the opposing countries, and they could behead her right there. Miku also thought of telling that she was the Chancellor's niece, but saying so would lead them to be wary of her uncle. Stomping her feet, she paced a little more and made up her mind - she decided to run the opposite side.

Miku dashed stealthily on the opposite direction, remembering that the music was from the right side. Panting like a dog, feeling like her dress warmed her body as if it was winter, she continued to run - clueless when to stop, until an arm caught her and interrupted her pace.

"Miku!"

It was a familiar voice that summoned her name. She turned her head sharply to the speaker, and she recognized the ebony black hair he had - it was as dark as the night. At the same time, she caught a glimpse of the Prime Minister's attendant mounting from the hall where she came from.

"Rei!"

She threw herself to him, burying her face against his chest so the attendant would not see her. This surprised the knight, her action made him jerk from her. He did not protest though, and instead, let her be. That was until a voice spoke behind him, loud and clear.

"Excuse me, gentleman - oh, pardon my rudeness, Sir Rei." The attendant quickly bowed at him. "Have you seen someone running here? It seems like there is a suspicious culprit tailing the Prime Minister."

Rei glanced down at Miku who kept on hugging him, her nails burying on his waistcoat, and replied to the attendant, "we haven't seen anyone scampering here." He kept an eye on her heaving shoulders - yes, she was the one caught running.

"Is your mistress fine?" The attendant's attention darted towards Miku.

"She is. Her head ached a little because of the loud music from the hall." Rei smiled, patting Miku's head. Convinced, the attendant nodded and declared his departure, fading from where he came from.

Miku pulled away from him and inhaled a large amount of air. Suppressing her pants for that short moment Rei talked to the attendant was harder than she assumed. "Thank you," she mumbled in between her pants, head kept staring up to the ceiling to help her accumulate more air and calm her quivering self. Rei just watched her to relax and decided that he would ask why was she being chased, and why was she out here instead of performing with the ladies inside - he knew this because Lady Haku asked if he was the knight Miku talked about.

Miku realized her behavior towards the lost prince.

"Your Highness! I'm sorry!" Miku looked back at him and curtseyed, Rei laughed at her and waved a hand to dismiss formalities.

"No, it's just me. You really do not have to do that. Is that attendant after you?" He extended his hand to her, asking if he could walk her around and talk. She gladly accepted his hand, and the two of them strolled away from the hall leading back to the grand room.

They were quiet for a moment, but when she pulled his arm so they would stop moving away from the ball, she spoke; "I went out of the ball to relax my hands after playing ten long lively melodies when I lost my way back. As I tried looking for the right hallway, I accidentally overheard the Prime Minister and his attendant. They are planning to conquer Portia!"

"Are you sure with your accusations, Miku? It is the Prime Minister we are talking about - " he was interrupted when she yanked him back to the grand ball, her eyes furious with rage.

Human memory is fickle, but if her recollection would not betray her, it would be nice. Really nice. The Prime Minister clearly said that a letter wanted to start a war, right? She would not allow that - start a war somewhere else but not in Portia.

"Do I look like I am lying, Prince? Portia will be the last place I wanted to get destroyed, that place being the most wonderful place I have been to. A lot of wonderful memories during my blindness are made there, and I do not want anyone or anything destroy its sanctity - even if I am not a child of Portia." She told him, the vague memories she had with Rei and Len in Portia flashed. "Even if I am born in the Australian islands, even if I am a child of England, Portia is an important place for me. No war can take it down."

She turned around and their eyes clashed, amber against a weird shade of blue. Rei could see why, but she was speaking against the British Empire. Rei could not do anything that may disturb the peace between Portia and Britain, given the sentiments she was claiming she overheard. Moreover, he was not sure if he should side Portia anymore, especially if the time came for Sir Leon to bring him to Queenland - and proclaim he was the lost Prince. The reality was slowly being twisted.

"I will look for my uncle and tell him about this, so he can confirm it to the Prime Minister. You stay here, Your Highness, and observe whether these people are really after Porti-"

"Miku!" He held her hand, eyes clouded with uncertainty and indecision towards the issue she was upbringing. However, he did not choose to speak about it. "Please, do not call me 'Prince', nobody knows about my alleged identity -"

Miku knew she should not listen to him, that she should not stop honoring him every now and then. The gap between them were wide, and albeit they belong in the upper higher class - he was a royalty she could not claim as a stable lad anymore. It was Len, he was the only one left. Rei became an untouchable now, not in the terms of the Indian Caste system, but untouchable in a way that she could not break norms in between them.

"I shall leave." She dismissed, removing his grip on her and pushed her way against the crowd. He was left standing in the middle of the ball, people kept on waltzing and circling their partners, yelling at every change of partners they had to do. His amber eyes watched her figure retreated, slowly disappearing from the crowd of this merrymakers.

"She never smiled today," he mumbled, a sigh escaped his lips. Sometimes he could not understand himself - he should be worried about Portia's security, not Miku's sour face. "I'm definitely loosing it -" what should he prioritize the most?

"Rei!"

A voice yelled at the other end of the grand room - a clear yell that unsurpassed the loud music the band was making. No one seemed to care with such insolence - screaming amid a crowd of nobles busy seizing the moment. Rei lifted his head to look whoever the speaker was, probably Fukase, but his attendant never called him by his name alone.

"Rei!"

There it was again, loud enough to get other's attention but none seemed disturbed by that voice. The knight turned around to find where it came from to stop making a scene, only to be called again, louder than the earlier attempts.

"Rei!"

The knight snapped his head at the opened door parallel to him, his eyes fixed at the person standing in between the pillars where red curtains draped in shirring. On the opposite side of the huge crowd of people dancing, there was a blond man, tall and fair, dressed in white pants and coat, whose hands were raised hovering around his mouth to amplify his voice.

"Rei! Over here!"

The blond waved a hand to him, grinning like an overjoyed child. Rei Hailey froze on his place, could not believe who was calling him and waving at him. The flaxen hair, the voice that deepened a little from what he heard nine years ago, the distinct Caucasian race taught to be a part of the royal family - Rei was staring at the person he wanted to see the most.

"I am glad to see you again!" The blond waved again - though it was a two or three stroke of a hand before dropping it at his sides - and flashed the knight a departing smile. When he turned his back to the knight, Rei heard the loud music and the uproar people were making, he was back from a reverie. He instinctively chased Len's figure as he stepped out of the grand room, the servants closed the twin doors after Len exited.

"No! Len! Wait!" Rei yelled, running past these people who made sudden screams whenever he stomped on their dresses or whenever he shoved his arm to them just to stop them getting in his way. "Stop that man! Stop! Stop! Len! Le-"

The doors closed behind Len and Rei wanted to leap just to reach his other half, the friend who completed his life.

A cold hand yanked Rei away from the nobles blocking his way. The people thought he was mad already. Rei stared at the closed door, on the verge of crying because he was stopped, but another hand touched his face to force him to look down.

"Your Highness, wake up." Miku said, slapping him lightly. "You are beginning a ruckus. In the Buckingham Palace. Wake up, Sir Rei."

"Miku, I saw him."

"Who?"

"Len. I saw Len. He called me, Miku. I need to go after him, let us go, let us find him. Now!" But her hand stopped him. Rei could not understand why she did not want to go - she was supposed to be thrilled seeing him for the first time. "Why, Miku? Len is waiting for us."

"Rei," she interjected, dragging him away from the dancing people. "Rei, Sir Leon wished to see you. We have no time for delusion-"

"Miku, he is not a delusion!" He pushed her hand away, freeing his arm and looked back where he last saw Len - a grownup Len. "He is standing there a while ago, he called me. If you're not coming, then I will come alone."

Miku wanted to see Len, that is for sure - but not after she heard her uncles spoke of him. He was said dead, it was confusing her now. Sir Rinto said he was dead, he had not seen him lately - Miku had no idea who to believe now. Was it her uncle? Was it the housemaid? Was it Leonard? Was it Rei? She watched Rei marching away from her, and of course, she would believe those who could see the faces of the ghosts. Quietly, she followed him.

Rei Hailey realized what should be his priority - it was meeting his long lost friend.

A/N: I am compelled to finish this before royal rumble for the registration in the uni begins. Want some countdown? **Six chapters** to go before we see the breaking dawn-what? Confused with this chapter? Don't be. Len is alive. Do you understand what's happening to Len now? ^^


	16. The Knight and His Muse

_The Classic Tale of You and Me:_

 _The Knight and His Muse_

The first night after Miku and her uncle came back from London, she had done nothing other than to blindfold herself to fall asleep. She wept and tossed on her bed, still reminiscing the cruel words Rei spoke to her on the night he claimed he saw Len. ' _How does he look?'_ She remembered asking him when they found the hallways Len could possibly had gone to, empty. _'Blond and blue-eyed,_ ' was his answer and she could never tell who was Len among the people dancing in the grand room. When she told him that his descriptions were broad and she could not help him finding a person as general as that, he snapped at her-amber eyes furious, face puckered and teeth gnashed. Rei was mad at her. _'You cannot find him because even if you have your sight back, you are still blind.'_

The sharp words Rei spoke stabbed her heart endlessly. It surprised her to hear him spoke like he was not the Rei she knew and she expected to be. Her fingers unfettered his arm as she gaped at him in disbelief, tears forming at the corner of her eyes. His words were so heartless, it stung her with the kind of pain she knew before, other than the pain he gave was shallow.

This whole encounter put her in such place where all she did was to mope and withdraw talking to people to give herself some time. She never left her bed all morning to ponder her past actions and her future actions, scrutinizing all the beliefs she held on for so long. Rei was right, she was still blind. Miku was still blind because she never trusted what she could not see - just like the old conceited self she was before meeting Rei and Len.

"I wish I can spend one more time with Len - I want to believe that he is alive." She mused to herself that quiet evening, it was half passed one and she was still wide awake. Her blindfold never helped to give her some sleep even if all she could see was nothing but darkness. Her hands clasped her lips as she suppressed her soft sobs, wishing not wake anyone in the house - not even her uncle nor the servants. "I want to be with Len again and be a child once more. The time when I care nothing other than to play piano and run with him in the fields, I want to go back to the time where there is yet no pain."

But at the stillness of the night, she listened to rustling of the wind. It helped her to enlighten her confused thinking as she listened to the wind, it knocked invisibly on her windowpanes and whispered, "it must be true love".

"He spoke like that because it might be true love," she whispered back in the empty air. "Rei loved Len so much, he could speak the sharpest just to defend him - because he wanted no one to hurt him, even if it was against Len himself, Rei wanted him to be happy. It must be true love." She cried more, feeling like her love for Len was the tiniest grain of sand against Rei's universe of beaches. Her tears flowed unwarranted, drenching the blindfold of her eyes. It was fiddle-faddle to compare her love for the blond when Rei had stayed with him for almost eleven years. Miku never lasted more than a year with Len back in the Green Fields.

The night went on like that, she was crying against her pillows and her dog watched from where he was, laying idly on the hearth-rug. Flickering and crackling, the fire from the hearth of her room burned low and overpowered Miku's weeping. She was never this vulnerable - all the furniture in her room witnessed that. The furniture witnessed how she lied being not vulnerable - again.

People had tongues of newly hammered blades, cutting deep through you with the words they spoke. Miku kept that in mind and snuggled on her pillows, her sobbing slowly faded every tick of the clock. The hearth was coal red, no fire blazed by the time Miku fell asleep. Today was a bad day so tomorrow should not be, she mumbled against her pillow.

Tomorrow, she should ask the painter (or her valet - she never knew what to call Gakupo until now) about this for he is someone wise about people.

When the grandfather clock gonged, it was the time for the second sleep. Len rose from his bed and stared at the mirror on his closet, blinking at the sight Leonard on the glass. The blond pulled a seat and smiled at his reflection.

"Leonard, I'm so grateful that you let me speak to Rei." Len said, hands fidgeted as he spoke to his reflection. "He was so surprised seeing me, why do you think so?"

"Because he thought tha'rt dead, too." Leonard replied, slouching on his seat because the entire trip tired his body. He wondered why Len did not look tired at all - he only looked as fretful as ever, other than he was happy compared to the past years.

Len crinkled his lips and furrowed his brows in deep thoughts - Rei would not think that way. "No, he would not think of that at all." He argued, prancing his hands across the empty air between him and Leonard. "How could he believe a proofless accusation!"

Leonard brought a palm against his forehead, weariness would succumb him soon. Rei was not his concern at all. Leonard was evidently indifferent with this talk and he wanted to discuss the failed proposition they presented to the British Empire. However, just like Leonard's indifference to the talk of Rei, the Prime Minister never wanted to start a war against Portia.

"Len," Leonard interrupted Len's childish blathering about Rei and Miku the last night. "I think we should take your proposition to Queenland. They would be willing to help so, given that the stand off was still heated between that Kingdom and Portia."

Len smiled at him, blue eyes sparkled with Leonard's idea. "That will be great! Portia will be called Ireland, and Queenland will be called Scotland, and Britain will conquer the two of them! Wonderful! If that happened, can we finally build the flying machine?"

The blond in the mirror assented, smiling his typical shrewd smile that figured out everything beforehand. He was feeling really tired now, and for the first time, he would let Len handle everything for some days. He wanted some rest. "Len, take care of the little things by now. I am so tired."

Len smiled and watched Leonard leave his seat from the mirror, and Len was staring at his gleeful reflection. The smile painted on his lips faded as he blinked at the pallor of his skin, he probably need to sleep as well. "Well, I can do a lot of things tomorrow. I better get some sleep now."

The giddy nervous young man he was laid himself on his bed, pulling his checkered blanket over him. His bright sleepy blue eyes watched the paper birds to turn around each other. It was a nice day for Len. Why not? He heard Miku play piano again after nine years, and he liked her music better than Lui even though they played the same piece. Her melody was lovely and it was his personal preference. After nine years, he saw her ran her fingers on the keys liked an angel playing a piano for a lost soul like him.

Len smiled as he remembered how Rei looked when he stood on a corner, drinking his wine and paying no attention to the dancing people. He was very manly, Len thought, it was possible that Miku would like him. "But come to think of it, why did Miku walk away from him before Leonard let me talk to him? Leonard? He might be asleep. Well, I'd rather sleep for tonight."

The morning began with a rain shower, filling the entire lawn with gray mist. Cool air snuck through the gaps of the windowsills, blowing frosty breaths on her bare face. Miku hovered her blanket above her face, but to no avail since the cool air slipped through the thin fabric. Defeated, she opened her eyes to begin the morning.

Today, the lady woke up in darkness. Her chest tightened, suddenly frightened with the absence of light. She was not supposed to fear this since Leonard already told her that she would eventually lose her sight again. But there was this feeling living in her abyss - a feeling like that of incompleteness, like a ghost wandering because of an unfulfilled will. She would be the happiest person to lose her sight only if she saw him, only if he came back to color her world.

"Clara!" She wailed and screamed, terrified with the sudden disappearance of her sight. She cried and yelled, calling the names of the people staying in their manor, from Gakupo, to Sir Tonio, to her uncle Leon. Hysteria clawed on her neck as she continued to throw tantrums, her eyes began shedding tears. She could hear her dog barking at her but it would not help her, of course. "Doctor! Call a doctor!"

Her door slammed open as she heard Gakupo rushed to her, asking her to calm down. Her uncle Leon was also there, snickering. _Snickering_? Her condition was nothing funny at all. She felt Gakupo's hand clutch something against her eyes, and then, the names she called were the people standing in front her bed. Her uncle was suppressing a laughter, and Sir Tonio was scratching the back of his head. Clara sighed in relief, as she unclasped her hand on her pinafore.

"Miku, why are you blindfolded?" Gakupo asked, pulling her hand to drop the piece of cloth she used to cover her eyes last night. "You turned the whole manor upsidedown because of a blindfold."

"I thought I was blind again!" Her whole body trembled as she broke into tears - which such action, she shocked the people in front her. They never thought she was capable of crying, let alone sounding so helpless for the past nine years. "I thought I lost my sight again - it would be fine, only if I saw Len again. I - "

Gakupo pulled her into his arms, patting her back to calm down. Sir Leon nodded to Clara and Tonio, asking them to leave the room for a moment. Miku continued bawling in tears, shedding more tears than the pouring torrents of rain outside her window. Her mind may be as clouded as the sky, other than hers wasn't gray. Sir Leon put his hands above her head, smiling a pathetically this time.

"You will see Len, don't you worry."

"How? Uncle Rinto said he was dead. Rei said he was alive. Who to believe, uncle?"

"Yourself." Leon smiled at her, wiping her tears away as she gaped at him. He did not say another word, but he tapped Gakupo's shoulder and asked for them to leave her room for her to have some time alone. Gakupo told her that he would try bringing Lady Luka so she could talk to her, and the door shut after them.

"Myself," Miku mumbled against her blanket, hugging her knees close to her. It was a funny idea to trust herself because she never had her own conviction, she always relied onto others. Always, always.

She was snuggling up in her bed with her blanket for some minutes more, and rose when she finally calmed down. The person staring at her in her mirror was someone she knew enough, the surly lady she was known for. Miku blinked and internalized who she was supposed to be, but she wanted to give up this pretense now and focus building herself. "I will find Len, I will believe he is alive, and then I will understand Rei's love." She went straight to her bath and dressed herself with her jockey pants and riding habits, albeit the rainy morning would not let her leave Selbst.

Lady Miku left her room with her smile-deprived face on. Her hair was combed a thousand stroke for it was long, laid plainly at her back. She didn't have the patience to braid it on her own. She marched down the short flight of stairs that lead her to the maids' place, and found Miss Clara and Gakupo talking to each other.

"Gakupo," she called, heads turning to her direction.

"It is nice to see you look differently today, Mademoiselle." Clara smiled, but her flattery was ignored.

"Gakupo, call Pico to bring me in Lemmings." Miku sat on the stool beside the valet, eyes blankly looking at the breakfast Clara was preparing. "I shall find Len today."

"The coachman hadn't showed up this morning, I'm sorry. Can't you cancel your business today? The weather is not fine, too." Gakupo answered, pulling the tray of her victuals to her. "There will always be another day for that, Miku."

"That is the exact thing I thought when we rushed here after Uncle Leon was shot by a gun. I thought I could come back anytime and meet Len again, until I received a letter from Rin and Len was gone. If there is a day, it should be today." She picked up the spoon and tasted her porridge, it tasted great and timely for today's cold morning. "Things shall not wait if they have been waiting for nine years, Gakupo. _Carpe diem,_ as what Lady Luka says."

"Listen to me when I say this - thunderstorms won't stop today. I have lived in Essex more than the years you stayed here. It shall be a fine day tomorrow for you to have your _nine-years-of-waiting_ be ended." Gakupo said like an older brother who knew everything in the world. "If so, as long Leonard is there, he will not let you meet Len - whether he is dead or alive."

Miku paused from finishing her victuals after that, and she looked at him inquisitively. Of course, that was not figurative language - but maybe it was, she was whimsical. "Enlighten me, Gakupo."

The valet winced, receiving his own porridge from Clara. He would not tell her for they were all prohibited to speak about it. No one could outsmart Leonard, not even the wisest scholar Gakupo met - Sir Leon. Gakupo was there in the Buckingham palace when Sir Rinto told Sir Leon about _this_ Len. After hearing the truth from the sly brother of Sir Leon, Gakupo thought this truth as _madness._ "Why say it now?" Barked Sir Leon, unable to comprehend why Leonard has to come to life - why such happenstance shouldn't be considered madness. "He will destroy his own kingdom if the Prime Minister agrees."

Of course, this was before the study of human psyche. It was the time when they thought madness as an evil spirit possessing a human body.

Len was tormented by the events of that day he fell off a cliff. First, he learned that Rei was a prince. The gap between them increased in an incredible speed, and Len knew he could never keep Rei for himself. Next, he learned he was an orphan accidentally. He feared this most, afraid to become a child of a highwayman - because he never knew that there were two lost princes. These were the reasons why he chased the train and brought himself to an almost end, and when he woke up, Leonard was born. Len lost his balance in weighing his sadness and muse, resulting to a personality he could never be. Leonard was a part of Len created out of his despair - out of the unfair theater where Len belonged, called life. Leonard was the only one who promised to stay with him, and Len became dependent to the person he was. These were according to Sir Rinto, Len's guardian for nine years. His observations about Len's behavior were kept in a record, trying to find a way to remove Leonard from the innocent Len. However, Leonard could never be outfoxed by anyone other than Len himself.

"Leonard could kill Len anytime and that would bring bigger dilemma between the two kingdoms." Sir Rinto said. "Len is probably dead, he never showed up in a while. If Leonard will take him over, catastrophe shall be expected to follow."

Gakupo glanced at Miku and ignored her demand, finding his porridge more worthwhile. He was advised to keep silent about Leonard and Len's identity, especially to Miku, for if ever something triggered Len to erase Leonard - though Sir Rinto only assumed this possibility - Leonard may host him forever, Len being a coward.

The kind valet proposed, "what about we duel with swords and if you defeat me, I will tell you?" - because his chances of winning against Miku is as accurate as his deduction that Miku will not smile today.

"Be true to your words." Miku left her bowl empty, walking upstairs to get her sword in her room.

The lady sneaked inside the room where she practice sword fights with her uncle, dragging her sword against the wooden floor. If only Gakupo did not bargain this, she would probably be pestering him until he reveal the truth.

Leonard may appear as sly as a fox, but he never looked like a vile person to her. His ideas have a huge resemblance with Len's, and Miku believed that whoever bears the same outlook like Len, he is a good person.

She dropped the sword on the floor with a loud clatter, walking towards the rain-drenched window. Perhaps, a breathe of fresh air would help her ease her tensed thinking. Unlatching the locks, she pushed the window open and faced the moist wind. Miku watched the old rose-trees from the distance to bend down as the heavy rainfall poured above them, their leaves fell like papers shoved away from the table. The entire green lawn was now nothing but a blurry gray vision where you could scarcely see the flowerbeds Gakupo made. It was like this during the thunderstorms in summer, harsh and cold. The distraught lady gazed blankly, the puzzle pieces of reality were undone. She could not connect it, she could not find the connection. 'I wish I can see more than what the eyes can see,' was her mantra to end all of these, leaning against the wet windowsill. Miku stared a lot more and concluded that after this rain, there would be something new in the air.

Lui was watching the downpour from his seat. The glass wall of the sitting room gave a perfect view of their large lawn, though nothing could be figured out from it. Everything was almost hidden by the gray mist and clouds. With an arm propped against the armrest of the couch, Lui leaned his cheek against his fist, boredom growing bigger every second. The whistling rain that whipped the trees was the only thing could be heard, aside from the crackling blaze of the fireplace behind him.

"This is the first time I witnessed a thunderstorm in Essex. Looks like it will not stop until tomorrow." Lui lifted his head to look at the man standing beside him, Leonard - no, it was Len, Len was smiling as he watched the same scene. "I planned to visit Miku today, but it never looked like the sky would allow me."

Lui stared him - gawked, more accurately - as if he had seen a ghost or an undead. It was Len who was talking, not the strict Leonard he knew. The blond was at loss of words, in which Len seemed not to care. He sat beside the astounded Lui and they sat in silence.

"It is odd," Lui thought to himself, wary of the presence beside him. "I had never seen Len ever since he left Cambridge. Why - why did Leonard allow him . . .?"

"If today is a fine day, do you think Miku will be happy to see me? We never met - I mean, she never had seen me, unless Leonard told her about me." Lui's gaze darted towards the brilliant thing dangling from Len's wrist, it was a wrist chain ornamented with sparkling stones. "Oh, this is supposed to be my gift for her as a symbol of our reunion. I cannot give it to her now." Len smiled at him after explaining the bracelet he was wearing and laughed at Lui's stillness.

"Excuse my rudeness," muttered Lui as he stopped gawking at the kind blond - still could not believe his eyes. Sir Rinto must be informed as soon as possible. "It has been so long since th' last time we talked, Sir Len." Lui stammered, careful with his manner of talking in case it was really Leonard who was faking everything.

"Yes, it is good to be back. It feels rejuvenating to be not fretful for a day. I was able to greet Rei from the ball last night, I heard Miku's piano again - everything was perfect, I'm so happy!" The bracelet glimmered against the faint light, painting Len's smile with more sincerity.

"Aye." Lui assented. "Tha' sound very happy."

Len reflected a little.

"Well, what do you think of Miku?" Len asked, his bright blue orbs bore right through Lui.

"Ah? Lady Miku? Why talk about that lass in all o' a sudden?" Straightening his back against the couch, Lui found it uncomfortable to talk about his cousin. He never had grown a liking towards her unwomanly ways.

"I think I am fond of her. She is a lovely lady now."

"Lovely," Lui coughed at the mention of the word. He was sure that none of his cousin's bone imprinted the characteristic lovely. She was always scowling, always crossed, always yelling to show people her graceless-ness. Not a single strand of her hair was likeable. "She int a lady who can please me, I think."

"Why is that so? Have you seen her smile? You probably haven't seen her smile!" Len interjected, slouching on his seat as he kept an eye on the grayness of the lawn. "She is the prettiest girl during our childhood days, and whenever she smiles, I can stare at her face without her knowledge. I want to see her smile now that she is lady, it must let me feel something more."

Maybe she is the only girl you had seen on your childhood days, Lui suppressed his laughter but it died out soon when Len ended his talk. "Something more? Like what?" He asked.

"Something more than platonic love! Like a love towards a man to a lady."

"And Sir Len had thought o' that for all th' while? Ah never thought tha'rt lookin' for a romance when all tha' do in Cambridge is to study." Len and Lui chorused a laughter with that. It was true, Len never thought of finding romance until he saw Miku again.

The two shared the silence, indulging themselves with the warmth from the hearth. Lui's mind was unable to think of a logical reason why Sir Len would like Miku - he compelled himself to recall Miku in his mind, imagine her smiling-but no, in his mind, Miku is a dragon. A dragon with a fire breath.

"She is the only thing holding me together, Lui." Len suddenly spoke, cutting the train of ridiculous thoughts Lui had. "Her smile and her words in my memory, they all bind me together to avoid the pieces of me to fall apart."

The other blond listened intently. He liked Len better than the self-centered Leonard. As he kept an ear on Len's sincere and serene talk, he would never understand how Len managed to split himself into two - to a weak and a strong person - when he could manage to be a single individual. Again, this was before the study of human psyche.

Lui's father, Rinto, tried understanding this odd behavior of Len since he was twelve, analyzing how Len talked to himself, figuring out when he would switch from Len to Leonard. Rinto told Lui and Len (or Leonard) to be cautious of their actions, prohibiting the public to mistake Len from being mad. Rinto cared for Len like he was his own child, for which Len never learned his true identity being one of the lost Princes.

"Is her smile really that binding?" Lui wanted to understand Len.

Len chuckled softly. "Yes, she is the only one left for me - she is the only one that can keep me normal, myself."

Lui stirred up after hearing this. It was bold of him to tell that, knowing that Leonard would be angered at the thought of Len distracted from their goals. Lui needed not to ask because Len read the question he was about to voice.

"Leonard is asleep. I am overjoyed yesterday that's why he was exhausted. I have all these time for myself." The blond smiled and stood, his hands were kept in the pocket of his coat. Len walked out of the sitting room while Lui waited for the corridors to be cleared, before dashing to his father's room to tell him what could defeat Leonard.

Leonard never liked Miku because she made Len feel complete. The departing words she told Len nine years ago - served as Leonard's weakness - became Len's antidote when Rei scarred his heart.

Miku closed the window after some long minutes of staring. It would not change the weather if she gazed for an another hour, so she stopped and went back in the middle of the room to pick up the sword she dropped. Her gloves were thrown on the corner as she played the sword on her hand, before snapping straight to an invisible opponent. With the arm holding the sword extended, she tightened her grip on the hilt and began the footworks. One step, two steps forward, retreat, then forward and forward. She pranced her sword and attacked, parried then sidestepped and lunged. The sound of the blade slashing the empty air resonated in the room, her brisk lashing sword cut the images she imagined standing in front her.

"Miku," Gakupo called as he entered the room, quiet footsteps followed him. Rei was there, his eyes downcast. "Sir Rei came here just a few minutes ago to talk to Sir Leon, and now, he wished to see you."

Silence was her answer. She continued attacking her unseen opponent - lunging forward and forward - no other movements besides forward steps and lunge - until she reached the vase of flowers and intentionally slashed the bulbs of tulips off its stalks. Scampering in the middle of the room, she began again, from footworks to random parrying in the air.

When Miku said that Gakupo is the smartest when it comes to people, she meant it. Well, she did not know that he saw her and Rei that night, debating about Len. He was mad, of course, on how rude Rei acted towards Miku - for goodness sake, Miku was like a younger sister to him. It would anger him to see someone treating Miku with such rudeness - but he talked about this to Rei, and it was clarified to him why Rei was the most stupid person that night. Gakupo already expected Miku to refuse talking to Rei, but after five more minutes of powerful blows in the air, Miku threw her sword towards them.

Gakupo, fully trained with her unexpected outbursts, pushed the door forward to shield him and the visitor from that flying blade. "Is that a yes or a no?" He asked, swinging the door away while pulling the sword out of it.

She sighed audibly and gestured Gakupo to go, leaving the knight and Miku alone. The door clicked and there was silence again, it was the air that made the two of them awkward. Her steps thudded heavily as she stood on the opposite side of the room, her back leaned towards the cold window panes.

Every seconds of stillness made her whole being uncomfortable and vulnerable, her mind kept on grumbling the words Rei told her that night. Her blindness being assaulted, her ignorance of how Len looked being ridiculed - seeing Rei coming to her insulted her enough.

Her fists crumpled her skirt as she kept enduring the pain. Everything was now out of plan. She never wanted to see Rei until she fully disclose the reasoning behind those words - without asking it directly from Rei. Miku watched him to stand like a statue parallel from her, hair disarrayed and loosened from its normal pony. He kept on staring on the ground, soundless breathing was evident on his heaving shoulders. Black locks fell forward, covering a fraction of his face - obstructing her to read his expressions.

"Talk and leave already. I know you are here for my uncle."

"Since when did you learn fencing?" She hated how people try conversing with her during the most unsociable times.

"State your business before I ask Gakupo to take you out." It was relatively calm of her to speak these irritable words. He would not say anything at all? She was not asking for an apology anyway. "If you wanted silence, you could have locked yourself in your place. You may leave."

Lies. Bloody lies. She wanted to yell back his words to him - sure, she never felt the same intimacy he had towards Len. They could be siblings with that long years they had. But Rei was never given a right to speak such insolence to her because she refused to believe him. Len's alleged death tortured her. The false hopes with the hearsay he was alive pained her twice as much as the preceding reason.

"Pardon my words, Your Highness," she looked at him, chin up and proud. "Leave this room and stop wasting my time."

"I came here to apologize."

She blinked. She needed none of his apologies. She fully understood him, didn't she?

"I never meant the words I told you in the Buckingham Palace. When Len showed up, I wanted to touch him to assure myself that it was not a dream."

Never meant? Are there things really not _meant_ when people utter them in times of sudden temperament? She might not be as wise as Gakupo in terms of people, but she was neither as stupid and as insensitive as Rei.

"Never have I met a knight as irrational as you. You are forgiven if that will calm your soul, so please, turn your back and leave." She snapped at him, turning her back to him and pushed the windows open again.

It is totally fine, she is fine.

She understood it completely.

Nibbling on her lower lip, she blinked back her tears. 'Len, I want to see Len. I want to go back to the days where there is yet no pain.' Speak another word and she would throw tantrums - unladylike, yes, but she never cared. It was an escape route, after all.

She is done dealing with bloody nobles.

"I came here to say I like you." His voice trembled. "I like you. That kind of liking a man feels for a lady - I like you. If I realize my emotions soon, I will ask you to marry me. But I love Len more than anyone else, and his happiness is my happiness. This should end my apology, I hope you understand my rudeness ereyesterday."

The door clicked at its softest, and she knew she was alone. Her eyes grew misty the moment the door locked as she listened to the whispers of the wind. "It must be true love," it said. Miku was right, Rei loved Len like a brother - or a best friend. Rei loved Len as though he was his king to whom a knight swore his loyalty.

To begin with, Rei and Len were together like two flowers of violets, the same yet different colors.

Countdown: **Five chapters** to go.


	17. The Cry in the Mellow Manor

_The Classic Tale of You and Me:_

 _The Cry in the Mellow Manor_

Gray shawl draped on her shoulders. Still in her flannelette sleepwear that touched her toes, with her bonnet tied at her chin, Miku Raleigh and her attendant stood at the doorway of Lemmings Manor. Sleepy eyes blinked at her cousin and uncle, none of them talked. It is too early in the morning, the sun has not shone yet. Miku stood wearing her nightgown - exhaustion still evident from her face - and it needed no explanation that they left Selbst in a rush.

Rinto asked them in as Miss Ann showed them to the rooms they would use. Her uncle already knew that she would come today, but of course not this early. If there was someone to be blamed, it should be her Uncle Leon, for he woke her and told her that he would leave to travel back in Green Fields with Rei - Prince Rei, rather. Her uncle also dragged Gakupo, Piko and Sir Tonio with him, leaving the lady with her female attendant alone. Since it was dangerous for two ladies to stay in the manor all by themselves, Sir Leon advised her to stay with her Uncle Rinto.

Basically that brought Miku on the doorway of Lemmings; passing through the gate was a piece of cake since it was left open. Miku saw the trail on the mud, assuming that their brougham left as early as her Uncle Leon - or probably earlier - and since the morning sun would be a few hours away, they kept the gates opened.

"You surely came early today," Rinto should not be saying this for the reason was evident. "Please feel at home, my beautiful niece."

"False flattery is not a nice greeting for your tired niece, Uncle Rinto." Her words hit him like the cold mist when he opened the door for her. Miku became colder after the ball and Rinto could not tame his own niece, even if he tried talking about flowers. He noticed how interested she was with flowers and their meanings-that was always their talk whenever they got the time to converse. But few days ago, after the ball from Buckingham, she became more irritable than ever, colder than she used to be. Miku talked less, and whenever she would, it was out of spite.

"Being vexed is not a good way to start your day." Rinto walked with her as Ann turned left to a certain corridor. "What makes you think that my flattery is false?"

"My face." She answered briefly, never sparing her uncle a single glance. "It does not coincide - your flattery and my face."

Unsure what to reply, Rinto stood at the doorway as Ann escorted them inside. She was a cold woman, very unlike her mother. Miku's mother was a fine lady, very feminine, and soft spoken. Her daughter happened to be the exact opposite. Miku would ride horses as if she was a man, dashing along the downtown as though it was an open field. She would practice her skills in sword fighting with Gakupo or Leon himself. Rinto wondered whether Leon wanted her to grow up this way. But there were times his brother would scold her in helping in the garden, was that excluded from being unladylike?

"Ring the bell if you want anything." Rinto said when Ann came out, smiling at his niece who never had lit her face with a smile. She just nodded and shut the door softly.

Miku walked to the bed as Clara disappeared from the door on the left. It was another room connected to hers, though it was relatively small. Some place made for attendants - of course, Miku was not so acquiescent about this. She could share rooms with Clara and it would not bother her. For almost half of her eighteen years of existence, the scullery maid was there for her. Pulling the sheets over her, Miku decided to continue her interrupted sleep. Her stay in Lemmings would not be so bad, given that she was also looking forward to visit this place for nearly a week already since the thunderstorms had not ceased by then. The bonnet was placed atop the bedside table and she was fast asleep. Blindfolded.

Rinto walked towards the stairs after coming out of that hall. He wanted Miku to stay in a room at the first storey, near the Mellow, to hasten her meeting with Len. He heard it from Leon before he left that the lady was persistent in searching for the young man, which was a good news for Rinto since Lui told him that their meeting would be the end of Leonard.

Rinto saw his son leaning against the railings of the staircase, arms crossed against his chest. Lui looked relieved seeing him, a smile relaxed his tensed face as he ran to him with a quiet voice asking if all went well. "Nothing should be meddlesome," answered Rinto as they ascended to the flight of short steps that turned to longer ones. "She was stiff and unreactive. Her eyes were telling me to stop speaking to her like all I say would be unnecessary."

"Her face had that written," nodded Lui as they walked across the open hall. "I could not see a gleam o' grace in everythin' she does. An' her smile, oh her smile - it intrigued me, it lured Len to stay happy and keep Leonard away for th' past days. If only I can do somethin' to make her as likeable as Len had in his memories!" Lui was exasperated with his cousin's behavior; it was vexing him to the peak of annoyance. It was ungentlemanly to talk of a lady this way - he really should not speak this low, but he couldn't help it; her attitude was making things hard for Lui and his father.

Rinto reflected with his son's utterances for a moment. If she was, indeed, the only thing that kept Len together - the piece that completed him, why was Leonard taking over him the day they met? Was it because she regarded Len as a deceased person? But why did it not sadden the dreamer? Rinto knew he could never have the answer, not now that Len was sleeping for almost a day already. It only meant one thing - he would wake up as Leonard.

"Well, Miku smiles a great deal of comeliness. I saw her smile once, it was when we first met in Green Fields. She was hiding with Len in a wooden storehouse at the foot of the hill. Len told you the truth, her smile was angelic. His attachment to her was a result of his disconnection with Rei, and her smile served as his reminder that someone would not betray him."

"Betray him in what sense?" Lui pondered aloud.

"His dreams betrayed him. He was only looking for something that would not change." Rinto patted Lui's shoulder when he reached his room and nodded at him as he entered the door. Len was an interesting puzzle they have to solve in order to get back in Queenland with his name cleaned. If it would require Miku to revert to her old self - Rinto would beg her - just to have the real Len back. "Miku makes a pretty lady if she smiles, but she doesn't."

Why is he seeing salvation of Len's identity in her smile? It was a poor timing, though. Miku was not the nice coy girl she used to be.

Peeping through the lace curtains draping against his large window where one can see the whole town, Rinto saw no glimpse of the faint silver lights from the sky. Morning would not come soon until eight so he would sleep now. Even if the morning began, the sun would not be so generous with its warm light anyway.

Miku Raleigh never had been interested in other things aside from fencing, horse riding and gardening. It was the same reason why was she locked inside the room her Uncle Rinto gave her, blankly watching the gray skies ease up a little by showing few dim streaks of light from the distant sun. It was cold and misty outside, the weather made the glass blurry. It bored her to stay curled up on her bed with her blanket wrapped around her head and body, like an Eskimo in an igloo. Miku wondered whether they use blankets in an igloo.

Fire crackled from the hearth as Clara threw more chopped logs in it. As the seconds of stillness turned to minutes, and eventually to hours of remaining like that, Miku suddenly missed her white horse, Diva, which was left in their manor with enough stack of hay. Len's dog was sleeping on the wooden floor, enjoying his own world and his unknown dream. As she watched the animal to lay peacefully on a side, she questioned herself why did she never give this dog a name. "Len never named him." She mumbled and looked back at the lawn hidden by the gray mist and low clouds. "What will he be called if Len named him? Probably Plato. Aristotle does not sound bad, too. What about after Greek gods? Apollo? Zeus? I really have to see Len now, only he could answer me." Standing on her bed, she plunked on her feet and ran to the mirror, picking up the brush to fix her tangled hair with a thousand stroke. Her arms were getting a little used to brushing her hair, with its incredible length she exercised it as though she was fencing.

Clara watched the lady tidy up herself - one of the small changes only Clara could see. When Gakupo and her uncle were not around, she was acting like the graceful girl she was in Green Fields, not yelling, screaming, or stomping her way downstairs. The lady would sit on her usual stool in the sitting room, holding a piece of card where Gakupo's neat penmanship could be seen. It was a list of flowers and their meanings. Clara never understood the importance of knowing what meanings do these flowers hold, but seeing Miku seriously contemplating about the matter, Clara could see the young girl she was. The girl who only wanted to play piano and tail Len.

Len.

Clara's thought ended with that lost boy. Miku told her that Len was said alive and he was staying in Mellow - a place in Lemmings. Leonard, Clara recalled his name, she was warned by Miku to act naturally around that man. He was the only one who would not allow Miku to meet Len. Clara never had seen Leonard, whoever he might be, but she would not allow him to stop Miku finding a special person in her life.

"Lady Miku?" Clara walked to her, gently taking the brush away from her fingers. "You seem to be excited about something."

"I will begin my search for Len. You will help me, Clara. But where do I start?"

"What about wash yourself a little and dress yourself? They will be less suspicious through that." Clara's suggestion was quickly approved. Miku scampered away from the stool and shut the door of the bathroom. Smiling, Clara put the brush back on the table and looked for a dress Miku could wear.

Miku came out of her room dressed in a simple ankle-length tunic topped by a vest. Her hair was tied with the usual twin braids, falling behind her up to her waist. She stopped on her track when she saw Lui coming to her, grinning like a boy who caught a frog. He was calling her name with that nasal accent of his, beckoning her to him. This made her poker face scowl immediately, her cousin's vibrancy was the least she expected knowing that this man hated her.

"Do tha' want to see th' flower garden?" He asked as soon as she reached his side. It was a stupid proposal, she thought as she continued to walk out of that hall. Why would they bother visiting the garden when it was raining bloody cats and dogs outside; they could even hear the heavy marching raindrops against the roof - though it was like four levels above them.

"Can't you come up with a brighter idea how to spend a normal rainy morning? You suggested something stupid - most stupid idea I've ever heard." She replied after some minutes and wandered aimlessly, walking to the places she was not able to visit when the ball was held in this manor.

Lui stopped the urge to grimace at her, his dislike augmented at every word she said. If she would be nice, even once, it would be a relief. But he could see no hope. She was a glum lady with a surly face, always scowling to everyone and everything. He only needed her to smile. Why wouldn't she cooperate? He followed his cousin wherever she would go, asking her to refrain turning into the wrong halls.

She would only hiss and do what she was told, continuing to walk on the other corridors. She had seen plenty of shut doors and unoccupied rooms along countless corridors where only silence existed. Their clicking heels echoed, and she detested how he trailed after her, following her everywhere like a shadow. How could she find Len if Lui would escort her everywhere? Oh, if she asked him to help her, would that work? Miku faced him, blue orbs glared at his fair face. He was taken back by those fiery cold eyes.

"Mr. Holly," she called. Lui flustered with her formality. "Have you met Len Ackerman?" He gawked at her. Lui never thought she would ask for it. Well, he had no ideas she knew Len was here. Averting his eyes from her, he coughed and straightened his back.

"Why do tha' ask?"

"Why don't you just say yes if it's a yes, then no if it's no."

Annoying as usual, Lui thought to himself, meeting her gaze. "Well, aye. What do tha' want from him?" She was the only thing that kept Len together, Lui should be nice. Lui should be nice. He should be - his brow cocked at her as he waited for her to say something. But the figure at the end of the hall, the blond in a rush, made Lui to falter. "Don't speak about _him_ when Leonard's around." He whispered to Miku just in time Leonard called them.

"Lui! Mistress Miku! I looked everywhere for the two of you! Where were you?" Leonard was smiling as he marched to them, his blond fringe swayed as he scampered. Miku had her eyes on Lui, still trying to figure out what he meant - or if Lui really meant what he said.

"Oh, brother. I am givin' Lady Raleigh a tour in th' manor." Lui smiled at him.

"Tour, you say? Why in the most desolated part of the manor? Lady Raleigh? Let us have some tea. Lui," Leonard beckoned them and he turned his back. Miku eyed Leonard suspiciously, trying to decipher his words and connect it with Lui's warning. Things would be clearer if Lui would tell her directly, but Leonard's sudden appearance stopped him.

They walked along that hall, their left side was an entire wall of tiled glasses that showed the still worse weather outside. She glanced at the view of the wide lawn of Lemmings, it did not change from what she saw on her window when she woke up. However, she noticed an image moving out of the lawn, a man holding an umbrella. "Someone's walking out of your lawn. Is he a thief? You should hire more servants." Miku spoke as they turned at the end of the hall.

Leonard chuckled at her. "He is not a thief. He is a postman, I asked your coachman to send him here before they left this morning."

"You did? They left around three in the morning. What could have you mailed?" She asked.

"A letter of urgency." When he answered, Miku found herself walking across the tall doric columns that raised the ceiling high, feet stepping on the black and white checkboard tiles. It was the venue of the dance. A manor this spacious with a hundred of rooms almost shut, she could not understand how these three gentlemen entertained themselves with the overwhelming silences and echoes. She forgot to ask what this urgent letter was for, instead she continued to muse with the unlit chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling. Her memory of the bright night here in Lemmings, it flourished in her mind. It was like thousands of fireflies and candles. Astonishing.

"The dimness of your place is bothering me. Won't you lit this place with - what's that again? - _electricity_?" They entered another hall and turned in a corridor, and soon found themselves in the wide sitting room. Her query was entertained by Lui, telling her generously the information she never heard from him because that night when he and his colleagues spoke, Leonard dragged her away.

It was done to show its potential. Lui told her that the usage of such scientific innovation Miku could not understand, had its limitation. Its sources included. Miku paid Lui's explanation no mind as her eyes studied the simple spacious sitting room. It was grand and bright inside, the room was facing the a small tunnel of green leading inside what-she-assumed the flower garden. Her eyes studied the room itself. Huge paintings hanging on the wall occupied most of the whole tapestried spaces, faces of unknown people that showcased aestheticism and extravagance hung. The lamps that hung from the walls were all teardrop clear, and florin vases were almost everywhere. They walked on the carpet of Turkish patterns, a rug they probably had bought from eastern merchants. The leather couches had its leather footstools, armrests were painted gold. Everything appeared elitist to Miku, her scowl clearly despised this kind of grandeur.

Lui asked her to sit on a stool, which she ignored too because she was busy hating the place, until she noticed the grand piano resting about twenty steps away from the couch. Leonard disappeared after entering a corridor mounted on the opposite corner, below the huge canvas where a bright golden field, together with the large oak tree on the right, was painted. Since he was ignored, Lui slumped himself on the seat while watching her brusque snobby form waltzing towards the piano briskly. He let out a sigh and made it audible to tell her how patient he had been while with her.

Miku pulled the Turkish rug hovering the piano and pushed the cover up. Her fingers quickly pressed the yellowish ivory keys, and the lovely sound resonated. This made her smile and sat on the stool. She would play it.

If Miku was interested in only three things: horse riding, fencing and gardening; then she forgot that she was enamored with playing piano. Lately, she was playing it for other people - out of her will. She only wanted to play for herself and for a small intimate audience, but the fate had not given her a chance. This time, she would take the opportunity to do so, especially that this place was too lonely and elite for her liking.

Lui gaped at the sight of her. His grumpy sour cousin smiled when she pressed the piano keys. She was even smiling more as her hands played the keys, the familiar sound of an English folksong filled the former quiet room. He was not astounded by the fact that she was playing Green Sleeves - it was the smile she was wearing, seemed to him that she was enjoying herself with that pretty easy song. But Lui's trance was cut when he heard a loud clattering behind him, this uproar stopped Miku's music too, and behind Lui was Leonard who dropped the tray and the cups on it. The tea spilled on the Turkish carpet as Leonard's eyes stared angrily at Miku.

The whole scene entertained Lui. Leonard was furious hearing Miku's music - Lui listed this as an additional weakness of the façade he was. "Stay away from that!" The mad gentleman yelled, his voice roared like thunder inside the room. His sudden anger surprised Miku but she did not look frightened at all. "No one in this house can touch that piano other than Lui."

"It's fine, she's a cousin-"

"No, Lui! No one will play the piano from now on!"

Lui was always afraid of Leonard. He was as sly as a fox. His cooing words were more dangerous than a death threat, for anything that came out of Leonard's mouth, it happened. His blue eyes glistened with rage as he clashed gazes with Lui's weak golden ones. Lui was always afraid of Leonard-that was the reason why he never liked him.

The smaller blond was about to talk back to him - to spill his dirty secrets and his fears - but was interrupted by a tinkling laughter from the opposite of the room. It distracted Lui and Leonard enough, bringing both of their attention to the lady standing by the piano. Miku was laughing, her hands clutched her stomach as she continued to snigger at them. Seeing the two fight was the funniest thing she had seen, especially because of a petty reason. And she was the reason. Saucer-eyed, Lui's jaw dropped at the most genuine and unladylike expression he had seen. His cousin was beautiful, and he never saw this because of her mask.

Ugly mask.

Leonard flinched at the sight of her, feeling dizzy in all of a sudden. He could not stand seeing her like this - like how Len wanted to see her. He was hearing it, that small voice at the back of his head that asked to talk instead of him. And Leonard knew he could not let him speak, not now. It would make him weak if Len became happy and fulfilled. It would make Len happy until Leonard was forgotten. Breaking his trance, he growled his displeasure at the lady and her lack of grace, before he left the sitting room.

" _Na, wie geht's?_ " Miku asked Lui, closing the distance between them - twenty steps to five. She laughed even louder at his puzzled look, he displayed the kind of face Gakupo had whenever she spoke the same language to her valet. "I said, how are you?"

"Eh! Tha'rt a queer woman. Askin' a man if he is fine after tha'd witnessed an almost fisticuffs." Lui rolled his eyes because he was not accustomed to this expression she had. "Go, find thy attendant an' leave me be. Ah'd look for Ann t' clean th' mess."

She snickered once more and ignored his demand. "No, I will not leave. Leonard is now out of sight - he's one scary man! - so I shall ask about Len and tell me everything you know."

"Tha' could expect nothin' from me. Figure it out thysel'. Listen carefully to the wutherin' tonight, there should be one after what happened today. I shall go." Lui left her alone in the sitting room, and his words subjected her to contemplate on things again.

The blond ran out of the sitting room for three reasons. First, he had to look for Ann to clean the mess. Next, he should relay his discovery to his father so they could tear Leonard away from Len. Lui was sure that he was considered a threat for Leonard too. Lastly, he could not stand seeing Miku happy. Not that he wished her to be forever forlorn. Her face, it was comely. Too good for him to stare at.

He was about to enter the corridor that would lead him to the maid's quarter when he was collared and pulled inside a room. Lui fell on the ground after being pushed, and Leonard shut the door behind him. Leonard had the most unfriendly face. His face was pale, he was sweating despite the coldness of the weather, he was trembling. Lui wished to run but Leonard grabbed him by the neck, pinning him down on the wooden floor.

"Did you tell her who I am!?" Lui could not understand why Leonard feared the belle she was. So instead of answering, Lui tried to laugh - only for Leonard to strangle him more.

"She wants to see Len," Lui said in between his coughs, breathing hardly as Leonard's grip around his neck tightened. "She asks for Len, show her Le-"

"No!" Leonard slapped Lui as he moved few steps away from him, his nails dug in his scalp in deep thought. "Len needs no one! He needs no one!" He screamed and kicked few of the jars, tackling down the vase where the map of England was painted. Lui grabbed this opportunity to escape, but refused to do so when Leonard crouched down. He picked up a piece of the shredded vase and pointed it to his throat while screaming, "he needs no one!"

"Stop thy insanity!" Lui lunged to him and slapped the sharp thing away, pulling Leonard's hand at his back. He was bigger and stronger, so it took Lui lots of luck to stop him with his madness. Leonard was crying, moon-eyed. It was a terrifying sight for Lui, let alone witnessing his insanity. The hoarse sobbing that echoed in the room did not stop when Lui successfully pinned him down, and instead, Leonard continued his mantra that Len needed no one.

Soon enough, the door slammed open as Rinto dashed to them. Lui was seated atop the other blond while holding his hands back. He could hear Leonard's weeping and the muffled words that only 'no one' and 'Len' were clear. "Lui!" The man dashed to his son as he saw the broken vase on the floor, an evidence that the two fought. He was lucky enough to be wandering around when he heard the sound of broken glasses. "What happened?"

"His fears took him over when Miku played the piano and laughed. He kept on saying Len needs no one." Lui said as he stood, leaving the other blond crying on the ground. After a short silence, Leonard stopped weeping and he rolled to face them, a smile lit his face.

"Can you give it to her, Lui? In case I can't come back, still I manage to give this gift." Len handed Lui the chained brilliant stones he was wearing for the past days as Len, his smile faded away as soon as Lui took it from him. "Len needs no one!" He screamed and attempted to stand, only to be held down by Rinto. His kind expression a few seconds ago changed quickly to the murderous one Leonard had. He was fighting Leonard deep within him, Lui could see that in his eyes.

Len wanted to win, now that Miku was here.

"Calm down, Leonard! No one would take Len away! Calm down!" Rinto yelled as he shoved his arm to his throat to limit his wide movements, but the mad blond still kicked and wailed and screamed as if he was tortured by thousands of blades. Leonard had the look of a wild animal, his teeth gnashed as though he wanted to bite someone. This was Lui's first encounter of a hysterical Leonard whose true motives of taking over Len showed. If someone else witnessed this, they would think Leonard was possessed by an evil spirit.

"I don't trust you! Any of you! We don't need people who would leave us! They weren't there! They weren't there when we needed them! No one would hurt Len! No one could hurt us! I was all he needed! I was all-" Leonard's violent movements and untamed manner of talking suddenly softened. This time, Len was talking. "Sir Rinto! Help me! I don't want any of this anymore! Miku! Rei! Help me-" Len choked on his own breath and sat, but as soon as he sat, Leonard took over again, picking up the piece of broken vase near him. "They wouldn't hurt you if you're forgotten! Die! Die! -"

"No! Prince Len! Stop that!" Lui yelled, grabbing his hand that held the broken glass.

"Prince . . . Len?" Leonard's shoulders heaved as he looked into Lui's eyes. Lui called him "prince", for what purpose? "Who are you calling 'Prince'? "

"It is you, Your Highness." Lui took the broken glass from his wounded hand. Blood dripped from his palms, gushing down to the cuffs of Leonard's dress shirt. "You are the lost son of King Yohio and Queen IA of Portia. Your Highness, please wake up."

There was a long moment of silence right there. Rinto and Lui stopped strangling him after they assumed that he calmed down. Leonard was sitting on the ground, staring wide-eyed at the lines on his palms that never showed his destiny of being a royal. There was _a_ lost prince. No one told him that Queenland lost its heir too. Leonard was confused. Len was confused. It was torturing his mind. His head rested on his fists as he tried absorbing all of these facts, trying to arrange them in his mind.

He was a lost prince.

He was a prince.

He was Len.

No, he was Leonard.

Who would they like?

A coward prince?

No.

They wanted someone worthy.

It should be Len.

No.

There were heavy footsteps coming from the same hall, it was loud and heavy , he could feel its vibration on the wooden floor. Her voice, Len heard it, she was calling her Uncle Rinto. "Uncle? What happened?" It was like nine years ago, other than her voice was clear and confident today. "Oh! What a ruckus? Is he fine?" Len opened his eyes and saw the scattered pieces of the shattered vase. Lui was standing near him, Sir Rinto was seated beside him. He could see her, although his sight felt like it was in a different angle. She was there, in front him, dressed with a simple white tunic and her hair braided - just like nine years ago. She was not smiling. Who would smile with this mess, anyway? He tried looking at her more intently, but he could feel his eyelids dropping.

"What happened to you, Leonard? Did a thief break inside? You're wounded!" She walked to him, reaching his bloody hands. Len wanted to speak, and cry, and trap her in his arms. He wanted no pain, no mental struggle who really he was. She was all he needed to take his grievances away. She promised that, didn't she?

"But why did she call me Leonard?" His smile didn't reach his lips. He could feel his eyes burning when she took his wounded hand. Len wanted to tell her that he was Len, he _is_ Len . . . only if Leonard was not standing behind her. Only if he did not have that evil smile.

"I will take her life away if you won't let me do my will."

It was a threat. Len could not let Leonard kill her.

"Or you want Rei to end as well, Your Highness?" Len felt dizzy as Leonard's laughter resonated. He was the only one who could hear him. Only he. Only he could feel him.

Len was a coward.

He wanted to find the courage to fight himself.

Len cried.

His world was spinning. Len could not hear what Miku was saying, but the warmth of her hand on his hand, it was enough to assure him that she was alive. That Leonard did not touch her.

Len was a coward.

Always, always.

As Miku tried to examine his wound, she forgot to ask Lui what he meant by _wutherin'_ and it was pushed away her mind when the blond physician fainted.

"Leonard!"


	18. Meeting Len of Green Fields

_The Classic Tale of You and Me:_

 _Len of Green Fields_

Rei Hailey sat on the stack of hay in the all-too-familiar barn. The buttresses and the wooden posts that supported the high-roof were still standing. The cows, they were not the same cows he used to milk. Rei sighed. He was there, sitting in silence as he spaced out on the withered golden blades on his feet. It was too much for him to understand. His parents admitted that he was an orphan like his older brother. Albeit he heard it already, it still stung like a thousand bees when they claimed it, and he could not look on things brightly.

Everything was puzzling him.

The silence was broken when he heard a rustling from the door, loud heaving of forceful breaths echoed. There was someone standing at the door, short blonde hair was tucked behind her ear as she pulled the horse with her. He recognized the familiar fair face, crystal-like sweat dropped from her chin as she tied the horse in its pen. Rin Michaelson. Rei's first love.

"Rin!"

She looked at him, blue eyes stared at him in awe. "Rei—Sir Rei!" She smiled, "it's nice to see you after a decade!" The blonde walked to the knight and gave him a hug, something the young man really needed now - comfort.

He just gave in and embraced her, could not help but notice how their height difference had put him in an advantage. She smelt like the fields and the summer sun, a scent from someone who slaved all day just to get enough of living. He had the same scent when he was younger, they were carrying the fragrance of summer.

She let go of him, rumbling his ebony black hair like she always used to do. This made him smile, albeit his smile was as quick as a second. As they stood there in silence, they said nothing other than she stared at him for a long time.

"A decade surely had done good on you. You look like a strong knight." Rin asked, "do you know who you are?"

Rei nodded and slumped down on the hay, the melancholic look on his face was there again. He was told he was the Prince of Queenland some days or weeks ago, and hearing that told him enough that he was an orphan. However, hearing his known-parents confirm it hurt him more, uneasiness grew inside his chest like a common grass.

"Do you know," Rin sat with him, putting a hand above his hand, "Len was the one who discovered that you were a prince?"

"I figured that out - nine years after, though." Rei could feel his cheeks warm up and eyes burn with tears. "I don't want any of these, Rin."

"Hush, now. You deserve to meet your real parents." She patted his head and flashed a kind smile. Rei always had a soft spot for that kind heart of hers, and right now he was sure that he was looking at her only as an older sister; his romantic feelings for her thirteen years ago was no more than a childish first love.

"If Len was here, it would be fine. You know he show-"

"Mom!" A girl in a simple tunic topped with a ruffled apron ran inside the barn, her dark blue hair bobbed as she skipped towards her mother. Her bright smile reminded him of Rin's smile as she stood in front them. "O' I'm begging your pardon, Sir. Is he a knight, mother?"

Rei watched Rin beckon the girl to her arms, telling her who was him. There was twitching and pinching in his chest as he looked at the two of them, and he remembered that Rin was wedded for nine years already. A smile lit his forlorn face as the girl grinned at him.

"Good day, Sir Rei!" She curtseyed. "Good day, Prince Rei of Queenland. My name is Aoki Michaelson, and I am five. Do you want some milk? I can go get some from my brothers who collected them this early morning!" The girl beamed.

"No," he politely refused. "Nice to meet you, Miss Aoki." Rei wanted to talk more but he was at loss of words. It pained him, of course, to talk to his first love's daughter. But it was not a torturing pain he was feeling, it was just like any other pain - ephemeral and shallow. This ache he felt, it only mounted while he still had one after his parents' confession. When Rin sensed Rei's silence, she asked her child to go back to her brothers first so they could prepare a tea for Rei.

"What are you up to?" She pulled her knees close to her and listened to shuffling hay beneath him. "You seem despondent than ever."

"I need to live through this to continue, and I need to continue to live through this. My identity and everything revealed to me kept on weighing me down, Rin. I am not sure what I should feel about this."

"Well, then," Rin sighed. "What will Len tell you if he is still here?"

"Rin, he is alive." Amber met blue gazes as they looked at each other with conflicted emotions.

"He . . . is alive?"

* * *

She wanted to see him, and he ached to hold her.

By listening to the _wutherin'_ of the wind,maybe their roads would finally meet.

Miku dragged herself in the east wing of the first storey. It was the quietest part of the day, only four in the afternoon – the time when the sun would glare behind the silver clouds. She walked along the quiet corridors where her every step creaked; her fingers grazed on the tapestried walls to find the secret door Fukase Attaway told her. For the past three days she had stayed in the Lemmings Manor, she only cleared the west wing but found nothing other than a room below the desolated narrow staircase located near the maids' quarter. That room was nothing special.

The lady slumped down on the floor, puffing loudly. It was tiring, she thought as she leaned her head against the wall, staring at the golden frame of the painting hanging above her. The unknown faces of people from the past, why would great artists paint them? Nature was prettier to draw and color. Miku closed her eyes and reminisced about the first and only painting she did, for which Gakupo helped her how to. It was a memory of an unseen past engraved in her heart, the golden blades of wheat that swayed and sang with the wind. The strong invisible giant wind that tried tackling three petite children, who were flying a kite in the middle of the golden fields behind the clock tower—she could see it. However, the oil paints and paint brushes could never animate their faces. She let them ran away to have their backs facing her, because she never remembered how did they look like.

Her thoughts drifted back in her search. The _wutherin'_ of the wind was like any other rustling sound of the summer breeze that encircled the manor. Buffering and beating along the inhabited corridors with a hissing murmur, she could hear no words like _'true love'_ that may bring her to her destination. If Lui was correct, if Lui told the truth about Len's location in the manor, why was the wind not directing her to the lost boy?

Miku opened her eyes and stared at the portion of lawn visible from her seat. It was greener and livelier when the sky cleared after a week of raining. The butterflies flew in and out of the tall green walls where crawling green vines clambered. Above the walls she could see few branches sticking out with a flash of red and pink – and smaller green bulbs. It should be the old rose-trees nurtured inside. Other than the trees, she saw another faint color sticking above the green wall, it was brown and dead and flat, like a flattened wood. Miku stood on her feet and pressed her face against the glass wall, trying to look at that material and figure out something as much as she could. There was something inside that garden. And she wanted to see what was there.

Then, she remembered what Rei's redhead attendant told her. He was wandering around the manor where only few people walked into, and saw a part of the manor suddenly fenced by a garden wall. There was a door leading to a corridor. And along that corridor, there was a door hidden by the tapestried walls.

Miku walked straight that hall to find where that garden wall would intersect in that passage she was walking on. After about twenty meters, she reached the end of the hall. She could see from the glass wall that the garden was still far, but the hall had already ended. No other corridor was mounted on that hall, so Miku would have to turn back and find another way. As she stared at the wall, she dragged her palm to feel the embroidery, and found it was normal – and there was no door. So, she knocked on it, thrice, and ran to the perpendicular wall she was leaning a while ago. She also knocked there thrice. She paced back to that wall and knocked, and then a smile lit her face. Gleefully, Miku left that hall to find her room and take something with her.

She was holding a glass container as small as a fist while she ran out of the lawn. The grasses were still moist due to the ceaseless rain a week ago, so her heels would sometimes bury itself deep in the soft soil. However, she managed to roam around the huge lawn to find the garden walls barricading some part of the manor.

The clouds were running with her, their silver linings hinted that the great sun was hiding behind them. It was the fact that the summer breeze made her cheeks tainted with a new color, and the same cool air filled her lungs with rejuvenation. Whether she was happy or not with whatever she was doing, Miku still grinned as she scampered across the lawn, running beneath the tall trees aligned at the east side of the lawn.

Lui and Rinto watched the girl ran across the lawn from the nook of Lui's room. She was like this for the past days - and the two never bothered asking her what was she up to, knowing that she was searching for Len. It would be a difficult job, though. Leonard had not left his room for the past days after the strangling incident, and it worried the father and son. They could never read what the golden fox was thinking. Furthermore, Mellow Manor was a place only Rinto, Lui, Leonard and Miss Ann knew.

Miku lost track of how many meters she had run, covering an initial quarter of the manor alone. She panted as she leaned against a tree, her lungs burned like stinging cold water poured on her throat and crouched down on the bulging root. It felt like she was a child again, a girl so excited about a huge house filled with haunted paintings of people lost for a century or more. She breathed heavily, panted even more, and kept her head high. It was tiring to pretend that she was a detective. Deciding to take a break in finding that part of manor, she recalled her talks with Lui, and bear in mind that at the end of the day, she would meet Len.

She must meet Len.

It was upon the mention of Len's name that made her deal with Lui kindly. For the past days when the sky poured torrents of rain, she conversed with her cousin in her room, the two of them sitting on the footstools in front the crackling fire from the hearth. Their talk about Len made Miku admire him more, and realize as well, that Lui was a nice person - despite his meanness, of course.

Len was a keen boy back in Queenland. He lived with Sir Rinto and his son in a remote place in the distant county of Wigtown (because they went away from Portia), where the kingdom proper was thousands of miles away. The place where they stayed was inhabited by people who spoke broadly in Yorkshire, influencing Len and Lui to speak the same as they grew up.

Miku was clueless that Lui did not tell the whole story of Len - that most of his childhood, it was Leonard who exercised his wits to people.

The village people liked Len so much for he was a creative boy with wild imagination. Sometimes they would see him running across the field while dragging wooden spikes that looked like huge claws to cultivate the land. There were days he would bury dead leaves and branches on dry grounds and water them every day. Lui thought Len was trying to keep the dead plants alive, but after some months, he saw the dry grounds turned into a loose soil suitable for crops. On regular days, Len would stare at the window of the hovel to watch how the trees swayed with the wind. Then his eyes would dart on the swaying fields. Then, for a few minutes more, he already thought of a new innovation. He would gather the old logs and nail them together, until he formed a wooden spinning wheel that would regulate the irrigation for the fields.

Miku had her eyes on her cousin when he told her all these and a lot more tales about Len's invention. She could not help but notice that he was a bit wretched while he spoke of Len's greatness. It was not envy that she was seeing in Lui's face, being crestfallen was a different thing—for sure. And so, she stopped him talking and asked about Len's early adulthood.

Lui had a few narrations about this time. He was separated to Len shortly around these years. Len was noticed, one time, by a retired rich knight wandering along their place. Seeing Len's dedication in everything he established in that town, the old knight told Len that he would fund his studies for him to flourish more. _Someone as talented as Len could achieve more if he was to study formally in an academe._ That old man was a childless widower, so he became affectionate with Len. Sir Rinto recognized the old man as his former mentor back on his youth, and things became pretty interesting after that. So, Len was sent to Cambridge and Lui was not able to see him for a couple of years. When they met, he was an accomplished professional already. This time, the old knight died and left everything in Rinto's care, the blond inherited almost everything the old knight once owned.

"If Len became a doctor, then Leonard must really know him." Miku blinked at the sparkling light peeping through the gaps of the leaves above her. Despite being fellow learners of the same field, Miku could not understand why Leonard was the biggest threat in meeting Len.

In a sudden, Miku was alarmed by the sound of rustling grasses from behind. She peeked over her shoulders and saw Miss Ann came out of the other end of the manor, and kept an eye on the maid who entered the kitchen door. Miku ran to where Miss Ann came out, she turned to that corner (which was the back of the manor) and saw at the parallel side the long garden walls that suddenly barricaded a part of the manor. Miku skipped towards that, her strides felt heavy because of her skirt, and she glanced at the glass walls of the manor - showing the hallways where she was walking earlier. The tealette hastened her pace, rushing to finish that fifty meter walk. The more she close the distance between her and the garden, the sense of secrecy lurking behind this tall green wall augmented.

Soon enough, she reached the part of the manor connected to the gardens. There was a door standing ajar. Miku sneaked in stealthily as silence and dimness hauled at her. Albeit her eyes were poor in the darkness, she still walked inside - slowly and carefully, making sure that she wouldn't make the wooden floor creak as she paced. It was a narrow passage that could be measured by fully stretching arms on both sides. The tapestry was slightly different from the interior of the manor, but it was nicer for no odd canvases hung. Miku stood amid the long hallway for a moment, trying to listen whether there was a noise or none. The _wutherin'_ of the wind was crystal clear in this place, whistling like trees somewhere from a courtyard. When she could hear nothing aside from the wind, she brought out her glass container, blowing its content out - letting it splatter on the ground like unnoticed fine dust. Accomplished, Miku walked out as quiet as she entered, and decided that she should check the place when everyone fell asleep.

The lady returned inside the manor with a victorious smile. As she skipped her way to the sitting room, she heard a lovely melody resonating from that place. It was her favorite melody, a song her mom used to sing to her when lulling her to sleep. Gute Nacht. It surprised her not to know that Lui knew how to play the music since it was not a secret music piece as well. But it was a simple song and Lui, being himself, ought to dislike melodies that could be played by normal people. Miku dashed her way to the sitting room as the song neared to its end. She was smiling, already thinking of what she would yell to Lui if she caught him playing on act—she would probably tease him that he was becoming a commoner. Her feet landed heavily as she hopped on the familiar Turkish carpet, head snapping to the . . . empty piano. Leonard walked pass by her, his frozen eyes never grazed on her as he left her alone in the sitting room.

Miku looked around blankly. This was the first time Leonard showed up after the first day she stayed in Lemmings. She recalled how he fainted that day, which he remained unconscious even if she finished cleaning and patching up his wound. The laceration on his hand was quite deep, and she assumed that he gripped the broken glass too forcefully. Anyhow, her thoughts had nothing to do with the piano and the Gute Nacht. As she spun on her heel, she wondered where Lui could have hidden himself that fast.

"Miss Miku," Lui entered the sitting room, meeting her stare. He had the same agape expression she wore.

"Mr. Lui, how did you get there?" she laughed, scratching her ear. "I ran along the hall to catch you playing but I hadn't met you out there. Are there other secret passages here?"

"Eh? I thought tha'rt playin' th' piano despite Leonard's rage ereyesterday." He took her by the hand and led her out of the sitting room. "Don't tell me 'twas not thee?"

She winced and chuckled with a trembling voice. "I entered the sitting room a minute before you."

"Eh! So 'twas not thee? I thought tha'rt playin' so I ran downstairs to beat thee."

The cousins stared at each other for a lingering moment.

"Can Leonard play piano?" she asked.

Lui furrowed his brows in deep thought. "He can—but he can only play one piece, only Gute Nacht." The blond gaped at his cousin. "Don't tell us tha' meet 'im?"

"Indeed! He walked out of the sitting room the moment I got there – and the music ended, too. He played piano! He played it! He must be a good man!" she interjected, taking Lui's hand in between hers, face gleaming with bliss. She was not thinking that she could get along with Leonard because he could play the piano, right? Lui could only wince at the thought.

" 'twas not 'im, Miss Miku. You should have smiled." Lui murmured, shaking Miku's hand off him, feeling rather uncomfortable with her sudden intimacy to him. "What art tha' doin'? Sling yer hook! Let my han' go, you—ah!"

Miku squeezed his hand until she saw him wince in pain, before letting it go. After all these days, he was still an irritable gentleman, more sour and disagreeable than she was. "The man was not him? How come? I only know one man as almighty as Leonard."

Lui sighed, "if tha' only knew."

"What?" she stomped her feet, halting their walk to Sir Rinto's study room. But Lui only shrugged in response, rolling his eyes from her and pulling his arm where she clung so they could proceed to his father.

The blond wondered what would be her reaction if he revealed that Len was actually with her all the while. Upon the thought of Len, he remembered the bracelet Len asked him to hand her. "Miss Miku, I have somethin' for thee." He pulled it out of his pocket and placed it on her palm. She uncoiled her arm on his white sleeves, gawking at the view of shimmering stones connected into a chain.

"Are you giving this to me?" she blinked.

"I think I just said that." He sagged his shoulders and walked ahead of her. " 'twas not from me, though."

Skirt ruffling around her feet, she was walking beside him again. "I was about to thank you for your kindness!"

"I'd be unlucky if so,"

"What a nasty man! Then tell me, whose kind soul was offering this gift to me?" she shoved her wrist wearing that bracelet on his face, Lui growled at her in annoyance.

"Take that bloody hand of yours away from me! Miss Miku—!" he pushed her face away from him as they strangled each other like two kids completely polar opposites. " 'twas from Len! Art tha' glad now?"

It was the mention of Len which made Miku stop her whining, though she was not aware of it. Her innocent eyes blinked at her cousin – this made Lui flinch away from her, it was too charming for him – and a smile pulled the corner of her lips, until her whole face looked bright.

"This," she raised her wrist, "is from Len? What else did he tell you? Did he say something else?"

Lui hated to wipe her smile away for it looked good on her— _too_ good, in fact. Sometimes he couldn't handle it. But lying would be the worst option he would do. "Well, he had said now't special at all. Maybe, somethin' such as . . . keep on smilin', like that."

She laughed at him and nodded, "why, yes, until I find him. He better hide well." The door swung open as Sir Rinto waved a letter in front their face.

* * *

The cousins looked at Sir Rinto, perplexed. When they entered his study room, they saw how he waved that letter as though he had the greatest news. It was a good news actually. Sir Leon wrote to them a week after they left. He told Rinto to follow him in Portia to settle things down, especially now that the truth was confirmed, asking him to bring Len as well so he could be returned to his parents. Moreover, Leon wrote that Lui and Miku should come for they would return to their motherland.

"I am an English," Miku reasoned out when she heard what her Uncle Leon wrote. "But if that meant I would be visiting Portia, I shall tell Clara to pack my things now."

But that was not Lui's concern. "Art tha' not mithered by _him?_ Ah've not seen Len in a while now."

Miku shrugged. In a while? She never had seen Len for the record.

His father only smiled. "Well, enow. But come to think o' it. He int th' same when Leonard's around. Summat' must be goin' on, I reckon." Rinto caressed his chin and said, "Len's a prince, this should weaken him, aye?"

Miku could only scowl with their talk. She could barely follow them, other than Len is a prince. "He is the Prince of Portia?" Her uncle nodded at her. Well, it suited Len since he loved Portia back in their youth. "But, is it necessary for us to see Queenland? The border is far in the North Portia."

"Your Uncle Leon says it is crucial for the children of Queenland to see their motherland."

"Uncle Leon must be kidding." Lui mumbled as he left his seat, only to be called back when Rinto gave him a letter. "What shall I do with this?"

"Leonard received a letter too, you should give it to him. And run if he tries to strangle you again." When Lui simply assented and left, Miku excused from her uncle to find Clara.

It is a minute of walk to reach her room from Sir Rinto's study room. To spend her time wisely, she let her thoughts drift about her investigation in that mysterious corridor. Once the dusk took the sky, she will run at the back of manor after everyone locked themselves in their room.

Then she remembered Ann. What will Miku do to avoid her?

Miku entered her room and saw Clara cleaning the fireplace, brushing the ashes towards a piece of cloth laid on the ground. The brunette noticed Miku's entrance, greeting her a 'good afternoon' and asking her if she should bring her tea. The lady told her to do whatever she wanted, slumping on her bed. Her disagreeable face slowly showed up, brows furrowed in deep thought. She was thinking about Ann again.

"Clara," Miku called, eyes lingering on the cloth full of white ashes and small pieces of unburnt black woods. "Can you do me a favor? I have to find Len tonight. Can you ask Ann the time of her duties so I may avoid meeting her along my search? Please do it without sounding suspicious. She may tell Leonard about it since she is the only one who has seen him in days."

Clara wordlessly agreed, leaving her room with the collected ash from the fireplace. It was silence and Miku again, left with no choice other than to bear one another's presence. The pale blue sky reminded of her own eyes whenever she would look at the mirror, and it bored to watch her something as mundane as that. The sun would not set until seven, and it was merely five in the afternoon. Retiring her tired mind, she laid herself on the bed and closed her eyes.

She dozed off for long hours and awoke when coldness engulfed her room. It was dark and silent as she rose from her bed, eyes wandering through the ink black vicinity. She could scarcely figure out the furniture in her room - if only she did not memorize where they were placed. Her door stood a jar, and through it, she could see that the corridors were lit with the oil lamps. Peeking on her window, there was nothing much to see as well.

Miku groped her bedside table until her hand bumped to an unlit _lamplight_. If she was not mistaken, it should be the _lamplight_. She carried the thing and walked out of her room, eyes squinting against the darkness, and lit the lamp through the oil lamps along the corridor. She came back to her room and changed to her loose white nightgown, ruffled cuffs latched around her wrists. She fastened the buttons of the frilled and ruffled neckline, though it was choking her, then went out of her room to feed her grumbling stomach.

It was dead quiet along the empty halls; the silence never felt conjuring like this before. It was as if there was some presence following Miku, but every time she would check the hallways she walked through, there was nothing other than flickering dots of light from the oil lamps hanging on the walls. The lady would never be scared of the darkness and silence, for she had spent her early childhood with those. So, she went forward, walking toward the dining area where she could hear faint clattering of dishes, fading from that desolated hallway.

The walk continued as her bare feet grazed on the wooden floor. It creaked on some of her steps - the sound resembled a stifling laughter of some squeaky flattened voice. But she never cared; Miku was not a lady who would make a big fuss about little details that she could also notice at daytime. Well, that was until she stopped on her track remembering that she left her shawl in her room. However, this time she was not stepping forward or turning back on her way when the floor creaked - and it creaked again, violently and loudly as if someone stepped on the wrong wood.

Miku Raleigh was not scared.

She pulled up her dress to reach for her knife kept in a leather strap wrapped around her right thigh. Miku raised her left hand, illuminating the corridor she walked on while gripping the knife on her right hand.

Miku Raleigh was not scared-

Her knife flew in the air and landed on the ground, erect. She heard a yelp after that, and saw a shadow that seemed to back away from the knife. Having a poor sight burdened her; she could not tell how did the culprit look. Miku tore the sword hanging on the wall and dashed towards the person after her. She was a good swordswoman, parrying the thrusts the blurry man sent her with her own knife. Her refined movement tackled down the culprit - thanks to her random kick - and she dragged the person towards the oil lamps.

"Lui!"

The blond groaned as he removed her grip on his collar. "By gum! I was almost killed! Why art tha' carryin' a knife with thee?"

"Why are you following me?" The two of them walked out of that hall and went to the dining hall. Along their walk, he told her that he was asked to fetch her from her room so they could dine together with his father. Miku, shrugging along his narration, sat down on a seat Lui pulled for her and blinked on the dishes served in front.

It was a festive dinner they had. Miss Ann and Clara dined with them, while Sir Rinto instructed everyone about their departure tomorrow. He said they would leave two hours before dawn, which calculated around four or five in the morning. Miku asked her uncle if Leonard was coming with them, and Sir Rinto replied he could not see why not. Even if he was not a family? Miku asked. But Sir Rinto's answer was rather - Miku could not describe it. He said, "he is more than a special guest, I reckon."

After that dinner full of small talks, everyone proceeded to their rooms to prepare for tomorrow. Miku, slouching on her bed while waiting for the ruckus from upstairs to die out, watched Clara as she pulled out a trunk from the wooden closet.

"I do not have my clothes here. What are you going to put in there?" Miku kept an eye on the dresses Clara pulled from the closet.

"These clothes your uncle prepared seemed fine," was Clara's reply.

Miku rolled on her stomach. "Eh, is that so? What about you?"

"I have mine, do not worry."

Miku waited for almost half an hour until it was the deadliest part of the evening. The manor was silent and still, and she had waited for an eternity to carry on her plan plotted at the mysterious corridor. Clara was seated on the couch at the foot of her bed, her lids half-closed. The lady shook her attendant's shoulder and asked her to lay on her bed while she was out, and pretend that she was the Mistress in deep sleep. But Miku left a warning that Clara should wake as soon as Miku told her - only if _Miku_ told her.

Miss Miku Raleigh left her room while carrying an oil lamp. She aimed to use the kitchen door for the mysterious corridor was a few meters away from there. She crept across the grand hall, flinching at the cold checkered ground. Then, she tiptoed across the wooden floor towards the dining hall, entering the west wing of the manor. She made herself extra-stealthy as she passed by the maid's quarter, before finally arriving in the kitchen.

She stayed on a stool for a while, refreshing her thirsty throat with the cold water from a pitcher settled above the table. Why would Ann leave a pitcher of water here, anyway? All rooms of the masters had their own pitcher of water. Attendants had their own too. It was quite unnecessary to let one stay here in the stillness of the night. Miku gasped. Well, of course that was because it was for someone else sneaking inside the manor. Through the kitchen door.

She pondered for a little more time until she noticed the _wutherin'_ and its usual hissing. There was nothing new from it; it was the same _wutherin'_ that made the manor look like it was talking to the trees. Rising from her seat, Miku went out of the kitchen. The breeze was colder by sun down. With her thin clothing, she could not stand this wind for a long time, unless she had her shawl wrapped around her face and neck.

To enjoy her late night stroll, she hummed along the rustling of the wind and sang her favorite melody. " _Fremd bin ich eingezogen, fremd ziech ich wieder aus; der Mai war mir gewogen,"_

Miku loved the way the wind blew against her as if they were shaking hands with her. _"Mit manchem Bluemenstrauss, das Madchen sprach von Liebe . . ."_ She remembered that she had not heard the whole song and she only knew the next few lines. "Once I met mother again, I shall ask her to sing it to me."

By the time she ended her musing, she already reached the tall garden walls. It seemed black under the starry sky. Miku was able to sneak inside the corridor, for the door was surprisingly unlocked. She crouched on the ground when she moved away from the door, and brought the lamplight to illuminate the wooden floor. It was quarter pass ten, Miku was supposed to be snuggling with her pillows. Tomorrow they would be out for an early trip as well, so she better had to get plenty of sleep. Nevertheless, she was here, almost burying her face on the floor to study the track left on the powder she casted earlier this afternoon.

There were imprints left against the fine dust. Miku crawled to follow them until it ended about a meter from where she was. She stood on her feet and stepped on the imprints, and studied the walls on her left and right. Nothing looked unusual, she murmured. It seemed to her that she failed to find the secret door Fukase was talking about. Heaving a sigh, she leaned against the wall and rethought her assumptions, until she stirred and felt like the wall was moving.

Miku could not believe herself. The ungraceful lady plunked on the ground. She just leaned against the door hidden by the tapestried walls, and stumbled inside the secret room where the _wutherin'_ was vivid. This room was estranged from the dark hallways outside. Her eyes glistened at the bright room in front her - it was like Len's mind. Novel and fanciful.

It was a large room with a lot of childish things were stored. The bed was situated at the middle of the room, under the huge windows directly showing the insides of the gardens. There were paper birds tied on strings hanging from the ceiling, encircling each other. On the right side of the bed stood a table filled with books and papers. The walls were shelves of a lot more books of leather-covers, published in different languages. Illustrations were pinned on a certain wall - left from the bed. The papers were skectches of what seemed to be huge wooden headless birds with straight wings. Some sketches were mapping Portia, Queenland and England.

It should be Len's room.

Miku rushed to rummage the table, and there she found his books. He had written essays and stories and poems about farmers and life in the countryside. Her heart was pounding against her chest as she grazed her fingers on those papers, feeling his name under her skin. She was so happy. There were no words to describe what she felt. She spun around to look at the well-lit room, studying his fancy decorations that reminded of rich childhood. Her tears began streaming down as she lowered herself on his bed, her body shook as she let all her kept grievances poured out through her tears. She crumpled his blanket on her hands and raised it to her nose, sniffing how does he smell. The sheets smelt like roses and woods, and she wondered whether this was _really_ how he smelt. Her nine years of teeming tears had ended, and the last thing she had to do was to meet him.

Albeit this room was enough evidence that he was alive, he was still not around. Miku ran to his table and scribbled on the paper the words _'we will meet, Len'_ before leaving his room. This play should be over. She would ask her uncle to reveal Len before they leave tomorrow.

It was almost eleven when she reached her room. Clara was seated back on the couch, eyes wide open as she stared at the ablaze hearth. It casted huge shadows like haunting dark images dancing against the tapestried walls. Miku plunked on her bed and took her blindfold, looking at Clara once more before breaking the silence.

"You look like you're crying." Miku yawned. "Do you miss your family in Portia? Or are you glad that you will be seeing them again?"

"You can say that." Clara laid herself down on the couch and asked, "did you find Len?"

"I found his room but not him. Not a bad night at all. Good night, Clara." Miku blindfolded herself and laid down. Her vigor was used up for this whole day activity. Even though exhausted, she was happy to discover where on _Lemmings_ was this mysterious _Mellow Manor._ And why was it called that way.

Because it was the only place in Lemmings where the whizzing of the wind sounded like nature's orchestra, making a mellow music to quieten the ruckus of the outside world.

With that, Miku fell asleep.

It was said that people were their real selves during this time of the day. During the second sleep. It was the time when their real fragile selves made it to the surface to show off. Miku felt like she slept for a long time, but she was not sure. When she woke, the stillness was still there - lurking around her with the lulling rush of the wind from the window. She heard no uproar that may indicate that it was time to leave already, so she assumed that it was only around one or two in the morning. Her body and spirit were still exhausted with her activities yesterday, and her body showed that she could drift into a fine rest in a jiffy.

Well, that was before her body became lively after hearing a voice.

"You never changed, Miku. I'm glad to meet you finally." Miku's hands shot to her blindfold to scrape it, only to be stopped by his hand. Her heart hastened its throbbing as she felt his hand on hers, her eyes began warming up with tears. "I fear that you cannot see me now."

"Why, Len?" She knew it was him. That voice it sounded like . . . "why can't I see you? I have been waiting for this day! Why do you want to prolong my agony?" Her hand held his, but he still reached out to stop her from removing her blindfold.

"Why, cry? I am only remaking how we meet. Did we not meet first in the darkness?" His words hurt and insulted Miku, for it clearly showed that Len had no idea how important he was to her. What should she tell him? Her blindness was not catastrophic at all; there were great memories that happened back on those days.

"Until today, you are still wicked! What pain do you wish me to bear with this arrangement, Len? Why, why won't you let me -"

"You will hate me, I can forsee that."

"Hate?" She laughed with a hoarse voice while trying to loosen his grip on her wrists. "If we met on my blindness, the dark days in that dark world never despaired me, Len. Because you lit it with the colors I almost forgot. You and Rei shone light during my great despondence - and I can never hate someone who gave me hope and contentment being myself, Len!" Her blindfold was now soaked with her tears as she violently tried to take his hand off her wrists, but stopped when she felt like her bed was sinking on both sides.

And that was because Len was hovering on her, pressing his forehead against her - just like nine years ago.

His forehead against hers led Miku to feel a pang in her chest, knowing that Len was just there - he was there - and yet a thin fabric obstructed her to see him. He was so near, he was so close; she could feel his warm breath showering her face, and sure it was enough proof that he was alive. Yet he was still a blurry image in her mind, like a portrait of a young man whose colors were washed away.

For nine years, she wondered how Len and Rei looked like. Her mind painted the hazy images of the wheat fields where they played against the wind. Len and Rei's visages were something she could not imagine, they were mere faceless boys standing by her side amid the endless goldness of the fields. Their laughter and smiles shone in her lightless world, and it made her contented being blind . . . because she saw what people cannot see - and that was happiness.

"You will be gone again and I could not bear that. I thought you died, I believed you were dead. But still, I kept you alive in my heart and my mind. Stop this, Len. Just let me see you, please." Miku sobbed, raising her hand to hold his face. It was soaked with his silent tears. "You are making me feel like I am blind once more. Other than this time, you want to tell me that I am not worthy of having my sight back."

Len shushed her as much as he could, trapping her face against his palms. It tormented him to do this, of course. But what could he do against Leonard? He could not do anything against him. He held her face and memorized it - that nose and cheeks and lips of hers, and how they felt against his very own hands. Feeling like another wall of his heart was breaking down hearing her words, he pulled her to him and lulled her with his excuses.

"I will not leave you, but today is not the time for you to see me. Once everything is fine, I will show up. Believe me-trust me, will you? Feel my presence in my absence, because you are unaware that | am always with you, Miku. I will be back soon." He stammered a few times for his tears poured like silent rain - it was a painful reunion for him and her. He sat beside her and let her cry on his shoulder, the two of them leaning against the headboard. He did not leave her as long as she was awake and trembling, her tears were still flowing and burning. He could not let her remove the blindfold.

He felt her breathing slowed down and shoulders relaxed. It was three in the morning and he had told her everything about his life for the past nine years. Most of what he said were half-true, knowing that it was Leonard who mostly did the effort for him to achieve his dreams. When he heard it from her that she was tired after searching for his little hideout, he sang to her the lullaby he learned from her, and she fell asleep like that.

'Whyever would someone do that?' Len recalled Lui's question when he told him that he would not let Miku see him. _Whyever,_ Len mused as he untie her blindfold, revealing her closed eyes. " _Because of true love, what else? Nobody could hurt her and Rei. I could not forgive people who would hurt them - including myself."_

Miku stirred when she felt him leave her side. Even though the good times would come to end, she wished him to stay longer, but never told it. So, it was her own surprise that when she opened her eyes, she caught a glimpse of blond exiting her room. Yet her sight was blurry after being blindfolded and crying, and Len's face was the same hazy painting her mind had.


	19. The Old You

_The Classic Tale of You and Me:_

 _The Old You_

The ride was long and tiring. Miku lost count of how many days they were traveling, or how many times they changed trains and sat in eternal silence disturbed by clattering railways. She could not remember how many towns they had seen. Her mind was too preoccupied to care that they were sailing across the Irish Sea to finally arrive on the Dublin Shore.

Inside the hansom, the lady was leaning against the window with her sour and tired expression. None of them disturbed her silence for the whole week of traveling, but it did not mean they never cared about her growing silence.

The road was uphill and rough, it was not a pleasant ride they were having toward the Green Fields. It would rain soon. Her eyes glanced at the sun hiding behind the ominous gray clouds. Miku could only sigh.

Leonard had his eyes on the silent lady for some time already. The look he was giving Mistress Miku was not the affectionate one like Len's gazes, but it was an inquisitive look wondering why was she too quiet. Normally, Miku would argue with him or talk to Lui, and blather everything she would notice. However, today was not a _normal_ day so it was odd. She was acting in an peculiar manner. Leonard could not remember a lot of Len's action so he was clueless what Len did and told her the night before they left Lemmings. He was even clueless if she knew who he was.

But probably not. Miku would exchange murmurs with her attendant asking whether Len was really there that night or not.

Leonard looked somewhere else interesting. The murky sky was threatening to rain, its grayness was slowly darkening the heaven. The endless moor before them showed perpetual green marshy land were heaths grow all over. Everything felt nostalgic for Leonard; he could see Len's childhood memories and hear the laughter echoing in his mind. Leonard believed that every memory of Len's past would make him weak and vulnerable. This was the reason why Leonard wanted him to forget everything. The blond quickly massaged his temples, wishing the unnecessary flashbacks to go away.

 _'If one is truly gifted, it will show.'_ These were the words the young Len Ackerman - the _dreamer_ \- told his adoptive older sister in the past when she mentioned that he should study in an academe. Leonard grasped these powerless words to make it powerful, believing that some talents were not nurtured by the formalities of educational institutions. That included the confidence to reach one's goals without other's help. Leonard was a conceited thinker who thought that the people in Len's past betrayed him, so none should be trusted. Especially those who promised to him. Well, Miku Raleigh was an exception. It was a mystery for Leonard why Len was so attached with the girl's promise that day, where in fact, Leonard found her words as a sham. It was out of pity alone.

 _'Take someone's grievances away? Share happiness?'_ Leonard could only laugh at those trifling words - words which promised nothing but false hopes that loneliness and disappointments could be removed. It was like trying to separate oil and water with bare hands. Truly impossible.

"Are you fine, Leonard?" Sir Rinto noticed the sudden anxious aura Leonard had. Knowing the young man since his youth, Leonard rarely felt nauseated on long drives. Well, Leonard considered Sir Rinto unaware of the things bugging his mind right now. It was not nausea or something at all. The young man just nodded his assent, clearly wished to be unnoticed, and went back staring at the window.

Sir Rinto sighed and let him be. His eyes met his son's gaze and they understood why was Leonard like this. This place was a jar of memories and recollection and nostalgia for Len Ackerman, that would only agonize Leonard's thinking. Leonard was weak against Len - but Len never realized it himself. Sir Rinto and Lui tried telling him, but Leonard scared Len before he could do any action against the stronger personality. Of course, none of them knew what Leonard was capable of. He probably would not go as bold as the thought of bloodbath, right? The Holly's could only assume.

The carriage was filled with choking silence. Those who were aware of it were strangled by haunting thoughts about the nearing destination; those who were unaware were full of excitement to see the missed hometown. Miku leaned her face towards the window, squinting her eyes against the endless green moor. It was blurry as if the window was misted, images separated into two and fused again. She was one of those who were _unaware,_ but as she tried registering the unseen place in her past, it turned out like this. Her sight was getting worse. She rubbed her eyes with her hands, trying to wipe away the blurriness if it was due to insufficient sleep - but the sight remained unclear, and it even looked fuzzyer now.

"Clara," she said breathlessly, head snapping to her attendant next to her. "Can I have a bottle of water? I want to wash my eyes."

Pulling out the lunchbasket, the brunette attendant was about to give the bottle of water to her Lady, until Leonard stole it from the attendant. His keen blue eyes glared at the lady in front him, peeling her layers of sourness displayed on her face. She was irritated as usual, but her eyes glaring back at him made him feel more vexed. As he studied her face in a split second, he could not find the sweetheart Len was seeing in her; for Leonard, she was no more than a lady worth of taunts, an impatient lady crossed about anything and everything.

His hand reached out to her, pulling her face close to him and tilting it towards the window. The blond was not mistaken when she widened her eyes upon the contact of their skin, but that helped him to study those irises colored like glaciers. Like what he thought, it was her cataracts again. They were lumps of whiteness that almost crossed her pupils - these were fragments of unremoved cataracts out of a failed operation. He let her face go, gliding his finger from her smooth skin. He asked her about it already, he could perform an eye operation if ever she wanted to - and he would ask it again, seeing that she was uneasy with such kind of sight.

Averting his eyes from her, he gazed at the moor indifferently. "You will suffer with an extreme megrim if I won't remove your cataracts." She only scowled at him, he saw it from the corner of his eyes. "And you probably need to wear eye glasses. You keep on squinting in bright and dim places."

Leonard expected a huff and a confident proclamation that she needed no help. But again, it was the deafening silence that mocked his whole being. Miku Raleigh leaned back against the leather cushion, bringing her gloved arm on her forehead to shield it from the faint light of the sky. Surprised, he peered at her covered face as if she was possessed by some being making her this quiet. She was not herself, he concluded with a little hesitation. It never bothered Leonard before, but witnessing a noticeable change, it was an oddity out of all sorts of oddity.

Not only the witty blond was disturbed by such sour countenance, but also her cousin seated next to d' Alembert. His amber eyes flickered inquisitiveness, or maybe suspicion with such weird reaction against Leonard. She was supposed to be challenging the doctor in a duel already, for she never liked physical intimacy with that blond. But no, her crossed and sour expression were for everyone and everything in general, burning everything under those furrowed brows. She was sick, Lui deducted, fingers caressed his chin. She might be nauseated with such rough road.

"Mistress Miku?" Lui and Leonard said in unison, their eyes clashed with astonishment.

However, instead of paying attention at the two blonds, her eyes darted back to the window where wooden shacks guarding the stretch of fields came in vicinity. There were cows and goats and other farm animals on the far end of crops where the plain grassland stood. There were shepherd dogs too, barking at the hordes of sheep amid the sloping meadow. Though her sight was blurry, and her head felt like it would tear into five, her palms pressed against the scene. It must be the place where Len stayed, it was also beside the only road.

For all of her life, Miku had a piece of this place in the scenes Gakupo had painted in his canvases. But as she laid her eyes on such greenness of this farm life, swarm of nostalgias hit her repeatedly, demanding to be relieved. It was not a scene materialized by oil paints, but the things before her eyes were all authentic. Her heart always wanted to grasp this scene and engrave them in her memory forever, so her heartaches would be cured with such beautiful memory. What would it take to end a pain, anyway? The beauty of memories were always two-sided, no matter how bright it was, the sorrow would always harmonize it. If it would be used to cure pain, did it not strengthen the negative emotion?

Miku felt the burning tears stinging her eyes as they went closer to the shacks, heart pounding against her chest. She wondered if the people with her could hear this throb, whether this was out of excitement or melancholy. Grabbing the door latch, she looked at her Uncle Rinto with eyes that begged permission. Again, _begged_ permission. Nodding a little, she received his approval. Then, she glanced at her attendant and asked whether this was _the_ place, and Clara assured her presumption. The carriage halted amid the uphill road as a fine lady with teary eyes stepped down. With a word of precaution and instruction to find her way to the Clocktower, Miku dashed away from the carriage.

Since she was too busy running towards the huts, she did not notice that Leonard also left the carriage to amuse himself with his own ghost of nostalgia.

It felt different. The low grasses felt different beneath her boots as she marched on them. It was the cool weak breeze that made her tear up more, for it was the same gentleness that hugged her nine years ago. Which hut was the Ackerman's, she was not sure but she marched still, pulling up her skirt to walk easily. There should also be a barn, she recalled sleeping there and waking up smelling like cow poop. Miku hopped along the broken soil, passing by a hut or two, until she saw a blonde woman carrying bottles of milk with her. Miku hastened her pace, yelling her ungraceful _pardon_ as she approached the woman.

Who would not be stirred by such loud proclamations? The woman squinted her eyes to the gallant lady running towards her untidy hut. The blond was sure that it was not the tribute collector from the palace - they collected already yesterday. She tried studying the lady from a distance, asking herself whether she had seen a lady with such hair in Green Fields before. Pale blue hair, or was it green? The last time she had seen one, it was like a decade ago. Foreigners never visited Green Fields anyway.

As Miku closed the distance, she recognized her uneven skin, sun-kissed due to haystacking and farming. Lines drew on her face close to old ages, her hands were pale and rough-looking. Those black-rimmed round eyes, it was not for a commoner - well, that's probable. Miku gasped for air as she stood before the woman, then curtseyed when she finally got a hold of herself. However, this surprised the woman.

She had the looks of a royal, Miku knew it. "Good day! Excuse me for the ruckus I started, but are you Lady Neru Ackerman? Formerly known as Lady Neru of Marseilles from Queenland?"

Instead of a direct answer, Miku received a gaudy query. "Who art thee?"

"I am Miku Raleigh, niece of Sir Leon Holly. Can you remember who am I?" The blond quickly placed the bottles inside the hut, and ran back to face Miku. Her agitated expression softened by now, recognition evident on her face. Mrs. Ackerman suddenly became apprised of her dirty clothing: leaf blades stuck on her sleeves and apron, her skirt stained with soil. When Miku noticed how the woman tried making herself presentable - though impossible it seemed - she told the woman that it was fine.

Miku smiled at her, familiarizing her face and the way lines folded when she smiled. She was Len's known mother. "I am so sorry, Mrs. Ackerman." She took the woman's hands, trembling as she held it close to her. "If I haven't left Len that day, he would not fall from the cliff and -"

"No, Miss Raleigh." Neru interrupted. "Len did not chased the train that way - the way you think of it. It was my fault so you shouldn't be sorry."

"I do not understand."

"Len is an orphan. He heard the truth accidentally and it hurt him enough to flee away from us to chase you, until he fell from the cliff." Neru pulled back her hands, settling it on her sides. "It was my fault not yours. I should be the one apologizing. You looked like you suffered about that belief."

Suffered? Yes, she did. But her pain would be nothing compared to a mother's grief. With a sigh, Miku mumbled, "Len is alive."

Such brief words shattered Neru's indifference to the young noble before her, azure eyes wavered at such statement. Nine years ago, his body was not found anywhere. They searched more than months to find Len but saw none, and together with their hopes that he was still alive, they found nothing. It was the greatest pain a mother could have, to lose her child in a rather unlikely manner - closure unsettled due to wrath. Albeit she was not Len's real mother, even if Len was not _her_ Queen's son, she loved Len like a real son and that was enough. Sure, she could not give what a royal family could give the prince, but she was with Len since he was a helpless infant until he became the dreamer who aimed to change the course of farm life. When she taught Len how to walk, when she would pull Len up when he would fall, it never crossed Neru's mind that she also taught him how to run away like how he did before - that she also harbored such fear to Len's heart when she kept the truth that whole time. He could have been someone better, he could have seen the best of the world. But Neru prohibited him to grow-to be what was he supposed to be . . . only because she was a mother, and no mother would like to see her child hurt.

It was all a misunderstanding. Len would not be hurt by his own kingdom. He was the Prince of Portia, the heir to the throne, the wise prince who never stopped dreaming. Neru became protective in a wrong way.

"How can he be alive when his body is never found?" Neru's voice trembled as she tried laughing at her news, but in reality she wanted to know his whereabouts. "Are you sure? Have you seen him?"

There again, Neru saw a flash of glumness in Miku's eyes - and she also realized that she was no longer blind. Miku winced, she never laid her eyes on him. How would she explain it, anyway? She mustered the courage to meet the blonde's curious gaze, about to speak a word on how she met Len, only to stop when an uproar came from the fields. Their heads snapped to the dreary heaven, pouring torrents of rain as four children scampered towards them.

"Nan! Nan!" The four children reached the shade, they were soaked with rain and Neru ushered them in. Miku, too, was asked to join them because the rain was splattering on them.

 _Nan_. Miku sat still on a stool as she watched the woman dry the children with a towel: three boys, one girl. They were laughing and praising the cold shower. It was always like this during summer, they claimed. The sky would suddenly become sad after a long period of radiance. The tallest boy said that it was normal to have thunderstorms because it was heaven's way of liberating its grudges to earth. He said through the rain, the heaven and earth were connected. It was like broken strings of water linking the heavens to earth, their grievances reached each other. And the Earth, being humble, would take it all away - the gloominess, the coldness, the sorrow - all the things that held the sky down.

"He was a wise boy. Just like Len." Miku mused to herself.

"Mother taught us that!" The boy said, then began scolding his siblings for being forgetful. Miku was reminded that they were calling Mrs. Ackerman _'nan' ,_ andthat could only mean one thing. They were Rin's children. Miku crouched down to look at them, two blonds, two dark haired - more like midnight blue. They all had a resemblance to both Rin and her mother, a lineage of royalty from Queenland.

"Are they Miss Rin's children?" Miku eyed them curiously. Neru gladly told her that they were, and just like the Len, the eldest boy was a keen dreamer. This made Miku smile, flashing her secret comeliness before the innocent ones. And again, just like Len and Rei (although Miku knew none about this), they were enamored.

"Ah! You are so pretty, milady! What business do you have with our _nanna_? How do you know mum? Are you an old friend? You dress like a princess!" The bubbly girl blathered like a bird that chirped on her oriel in Selbst. This girl was an adorable child with pretty eyes and dark blue hair, two red circles sat atop her cheeks. She was beaming with joy Miku could not define where it was from, and her brothers were all smiling similarly at her.

"She is a noble, Aoki! Don't clamber on her skirt!" The eldest boy with dark blond hair tried yanking the girl away from her lap, but Miku pranced her hand in the air, saying it was totally fine. The noble even lifted the girl so-called Aoki, sitting her on her lap. This made the girl smile more, her grin was ear-to-ear, then mocked her older brothers in triumph.

"Uwaa! I want to sit there too!" The youngest boy said, and despite being a big boy, he was kind of childish to wail like that. "Nan? Nanna! Can we really talk to her? No one will scold us? She is a good looking lady! She is an aristocrat, isn't she?"

"No! It is totally fine," Miku patted the boy's head, smiling at him and to the other boys. It seemed to them that Miku was such a fine treasure that a commoner could not touch, that talking to her was a punishable act already. Such bewilderment they showed was acquainted to the Lady, for she had encountered it a lot - from all the people who worked for her uncle. Clara, Mr. Bruno, Sir Tonio, Len, Rei and a lot more people. They all said the same things.

Miku had this compelling urge to tell them that there should be no stratification at all, but was reminded that when she was young, she never believed that. During the days she spent on the Southern Colony, she was raised in an environment where whites are superior. However, this belief changed when she lost her sight, thus she had seen the world differently - that even among the whites, they still stick with the hierarchy of people. When she lost her sight, she knew that she was helpless, and even slaves would not have the patience to look after a blind girl. But when she reached Green Fields, when Rei escorted her to the church, when Len would spend days and nights with her, she realized that people should treat all people the same. But it was a Utopia, an idea only Sir Thomas Moore depicted in his book. It could never be real.

The boys asked her about everything she does as an aristocrat, and Miku could answer without accuracy. She never had a routine quite different from a normal life, so she told them that she spent time on gardening, on fencing, on riding her horse - all the things she considered sensible or worthwhile. These were all simple deeds she does, but it never occurred to her that the kids would admire her.

"That was very noble!" The eldest boy said.

"Of course, she is a noble!" The second one interjected.

Said the youngest boy, "I ride horses too! We don't have a garden of flowers but we cart the haystack away, - is that like gardening? - ride horse when we deliver milk around the town, duel with wooden sticks and guide the cows to clear the boggy moor!"

"Oh! Oh! We live like a noble, don't we, brothers?" The girl cheered on Miku's lap. The Lady gave them a pained smile, their words made her rethink of how senseless she was spending her time. Compared to them, Miku never had a grip on the real kind of life they had. She had rebellious thoughts on social classes, but she never understood a low class' life at all. Unlike Len, she was a mere advocate by words.

Miku was lost in her thoughts when they asked her how she reached Green Fields. She told them her indifferent long trip to this place, the countless landscapes she saw, and the wearisome _choo-choos_ of various trains she rode. There were lots of people at some counties, and some seemed to be a ghost town. She told them how many sunrises and sunsets she witnessed, and how she felt the same feeling whenever she would see the dawn and dusk. When they reached Chester, they crossed the Irish Sea. It was an infinite misty blueness that would welcome every passenger of the ship. At first, there was nothing to be seen but the thick fog. However, when the sun clambered to the sky, it would be the loveliest view one would see. The sound of water grazing the ship was felt in every second.

"How wonderful your journey was! A ride so long was never experienced by us, neither had we have the chance to leave Green Fields! Papa and Mum were always out as merchants, but Mum would stay at long days, and would not let us come with Papa when he would travel again!" The eldest child said, grimacing at the some parts that he disliked.

"Does that mean you arrived by the Dublin Shore? Oh, brother! The noble man we talked to said the same thing! The sea, the beautiful lady standing on the deck with greenish-blue flowing hair! Oh! Milady, have you seen her? The noble man said she was looking miserable!" The girl hopped down from Miku's lap to see her face, and her eyes widened as she realized what color was this stranger's hair. "She has that hair! She has that hair! Brother! She was it!'"

"Sir Len was not mistaken! How did you not realize it soon, Aoki!" the youngest boy said.

Miku and Neru flinched upon the mention of the name. It surprised the noble lady to hear that, of course. She never thought that Len was here. He could have been traveling with them and she was just clueless. Miku stood and faced Neru, the pallid lips of the blonde woman seemed to grow whiter.

This time, Neru should believe Miku. The children never had seen or known who was Len, so it was not a ghost who talked to her grandchildren. Her stare lingered on Miku's back, the lady was scampering out of the shack. Neru saw persistence in Miku's being, a force, a feeling she never had felt for so long after believing Len was dead.

Pressing her palms against the frail wooden door, she pushed it open to find where was Len. The children said he was walking around at the end of the fields, the place were cows wander and where the sun rises. He was talking to them a few minutes before the heavy downpour, probably around Miku's wandering around to find the right shack. That man would surely reach that place, being familiar to all twists and turns in Green Fields.

Pulling her skirt up, Miku was about to lunge herself to the train but stopped when she saw two silhouettes dashing toward their shack. "Who could that be?" She yelled, running inside the shack to show the two people bathing under the rain. The children held on her skirt as they peered behind her, and the girl hopped out and screamed _'mum'_ and _Prince Rei._

Miku heard the boys asking Aoki who was that prince. The children began arguing that a prince would not come in the fields, so they concluded that it was Aoki's name calling habits. But as the people closed the distance, Miku could see that it was really Rei. Curtsey, she reminded herself. So she crouched down to the kids and shushed them, and she lectured them to curtsey and show respect for the man was a real prince.

"Miku?"

Miku quickly stood and met Rei's scrutinizing amber eyes. She curtseyed together with the children. When she lifted her head up, she saw Rin's smile. The two were soaked with rain water as they entered the small shack, quivering a little due to the coldness of the weather. Neru quickly brought out blankets to warm them, apologizing to Rei because they had no other towels to offer to him. Rei said it was fine, he could go to his parents to ask for a change of clothes anyway. The children's attention shifted to Rei, flooding the prince with buckets of questions about horses and palaces and royalties. The prince would laugh at them, and Miku could see that shallow bliss he was exhibiting. After the last time she and Rei talked, Miku was sure that she was not yet ready to face him. Her love for Len was not as deep as Rei's, and so, she could not understand him well enough. That also meant she could not stand seeing him around. His presence belittled her whole being.

"I will be leaving. Mrs. Ackerman, thank you for letting me stay here for a while. I wish you all a good day." Miku ran out of the shack amid the cloudburst, squinting her eyes as she marched across the soft soil. She could hear Rin's children calling out for her, yelling names that would never become her title. _Princess! Princess! -_ they called, but she was not a princess so she would not look back. Miku continued her sprint until she entered the fields, her dress became heavy after absorbing the cold rain water.

 _No good,_ she mumbled as she tried looking for the hovel at the end of the wide fields. She stood for a moment to study how far it was, but she suddenly lost her balance. Miku fell on the soft ground, feeling like the earth was swallowing her. It was as if the earth was crumbling down beneath her palms. Her dress was now stained with mud but she had to continue going. Len would surely look for a shelter from this heavy downpour and the hovel on the other end was the nearest possible shade.

Miku glanced back at the shack. The children were watching her from the door, together with Neru and Rin. Miku's situation was actually funny and she could not deny that. Running across the fields with a heavy clothing, feet burying through the earth; she was making a scene. The lady sprang onto her feet and defied against the millions of droplets hindering her sprint. She could feel the mud splashing at her every step, staining her skirt with more filth. No matter how amusing she looked like, she would run to reach the hovel and meet him.

 _See him._

The gloomy sky brightened for some seconds. In a flash, it was so bright - Miku realized she was so vulnerable amid an open field. Ducking, she covered her head as she dropped on the ground, wishing that the lightning would not strike her. She saw a glimpse of the light drawing a line across the sky. It was so clear, like the lights in Lemmings, and it looked alive. Soon the thunder roared, shaking the sky and earth with its might. Miku rose as soon as the sound faded, but cold fingers wrapped themselves around her wrist and yanked her to the opposite direction.

His timing was really bad. Miku shook her hands from his grip, but no matter how violent she was, he was stronger than her. He was a knight trained to have such strength and patience for battlefield, and sure a grumpy lady like her was easy for him to handle. Rei's grip tightened around her wrist, declaring that he would not be shaken by her crossness. However, it displeased Miku more.

"Prince Rei, let me go!"

"I cannot." He said and kicked the door open. The smell of withered grass and livestock excrements engulfed their sense of smell. Everything was nostalgic for Miku, like she had been in this place before. Maybe she was but she could not remember when and where did it exactly happen. "Thunderstorm here is different from the ones you had in Essex, you know that. Where are you going?"

Miku pulled her hand away from Rei, massaging her abused wrist. She had no intention telling him, but who was she to defy a prince? "I believe it is none of your business."

"Is it Len? Are you going to look for Len? He is not here. I already looked for him." Rei still sees Miku as the blind girl she used to be.

"No, you're wrong. Rin's children told me that they met him here. He followed us here."

Rei looked at her indifferently as he pulled a horse out of its stable. Miku was an intoxicating sight, but her presence was enough distraction from the poignancy of the yesteryears. However, it was not enough to wake him up from a melancholia he was never acquainted. Rei only wanted to meet Len, nothing else. As long as he could not meet him, he would not be at peace. But right now, he only wanted to look after her.

"I will bring you to the clocktower. If Len is here, he will meet us no matter what." He beckoned to her, dodging the glares she was giving him. He knew he was right. If Len was here . . . he should come. Rei could feel that their meeting would be soon enough. He reached out for her, pulling her to him and glowering at her. "You are wandering aimlessly. Let us head back to the clocktower and have a rest."


	20. One Summer's Day

_The Classic Tale of You and Me:_

 _One Summer's Day_

The moment he stepped out of the carriage, it was not Leonard who was standing before the familiar green fields. It was him, the real persona, the coward dreamer named Len Ackerman.

His eyes were fixated on Miku's form running away from him. It would not change the fact that today he would have to give up on everything and trust it to Leonard. After all, Leonard could handle the things he could not. This action included. It was a silent treaty between them, that Leonard would give Len the last time to let him wander in such place where he grew up. All the things dear to him, he could hold them in his memories. As much as he wanted, he could keep them but there would be no trace of Len in the future. Leonard would take it over. All of it.

Len chuckled to himself, marching towards the other side of the field. Miku was clearly looking for their shack, the place where he last saw her nine years ago. His feet paved on the rough track, bringing him to the road only the native farm boys - such as he - knew. He knew it well like the back of his hand, all the _atajo_ that cut long roads short. He would probably go and visit the path between their shack and barn, being the place where Miku asked the wind to take his grievances away. The blond smiled to himself. That was one of his best memories with her.

His leather shoes carelessly stepped on the mud as he crossed the sloping roadside. He could feel the wind caressing his face; its frosty unseen fingers grazed on his cheeks with numbness. Len went forward, moving stealthily out of people's vicinity. He made sure to put on his hat to hide his blond hair, so as to avoid recognition from the few people still working on the fields. The sun was nowhere up for the gray mountains of clouds claimed the sky as theirs.

After several footsteps, he was now standing on the exact place where he and Miku shared a little intimacy, where he and she exchanged promises that kept him, well, _himself._ The feeling of her hands on his cheeks, the odd shade of blueness in her eyes, the softness of her voice when she told him all those claims - everything replayed in his mind vividly. Len could feel the pleasant throb his heart was giving. It was his old weary heart warming. If all his frustrations could scar his heart, he should be dead. However, it was Miku who caught him amid his fall, and her words kept him intact.

He knew he could not show up to her again to tell that he had been _here_ all the time. For if she had laid her eyes on him, she may detest him evermore. Come to think of it, what was the reason of his sadness that time? Was it envy? Probably. Rei's fate instantly changed when Len learned the truth about him, but Len kept it all a secret. Len was selfish. He never wanted Rei to live the life of a prince, in fear that he, alone, would go through his tough farm life. He was sure he had slept in the barn that day, and that was the last time Rei spoke to him.

So until today Len is the same. An egoistic scholar who thought of nothing other than his dreams. He is so disagreeable. He is the same with Leonard. After all, he and Leonard are the same.

Blue eyes searched for miles, looking straight ahead of the unchanging fields. Even if a decade had passed, it remained the same. Len wondered if his dreams would be like this fraction of earth. Would it remain a dream like how the fields remained as fields? Amid his blank gazing, he caught a glimpse of tiny people running around the paddock, faint laughter resonated reached his ears. There were few children back in his time, if Len was not mistaken. Other words, the fields changed somehow.

Nostalgia was overwhelming. Len found himself walking away from the hut, then across the fields, to reach the children chasing the little pony within the fences. He could see the wide grins plastered on their faces as they ran, hair disheveled like their shabby clothes. Watching them reminded him of his own childhood with Rei, those days when he was weak and always out of breath.

Len could see his ghost running before him - his younger self was dashing away while carrying bottles of milk. Rei was chasing him, the two of them were barefooted. Their smiles were as clear as a teardrop, illuminated by the calm morning sunshine. It was always the stout cow they would milk every mornings. They raced their way to find the cow and once they found it, they would crash themselves on the ground to watch the clouds. Mindless of the time ticking away, they would lay themselves down until they felt like finishing the bottles. They were done and they were laughing. Even if it was hard to carry three bottles at once, they carried it all and raced back to the hut. The last to reach the shack would clean the stables - and none liked that job.

If nothing happened back in those days of yore, Len would probably live as a stable lad while Rei would be _still_ the knight he was now. In the end, he would be alone. He would remain as a farm boy who would slave all day but would not get rich. His dreams would fly away from his grasp unnoticed, and he would forget them. Len would have remained as a farm boy and Sir Leon's attendant - or Miku's aide - and marry and have a family, but all his childhood dreams would remain that way. As Len thought of these possibilities, he felt pity upon his old self, and proud to _himself_ who overheard the truth and fell off a cliff.

But he should not contemplate on these thing anymore. These possibilities never happened.

"Good day," Len smiled.

There was a girl seated on the grasses, laughing at the three boys chasing the pony. She had this dark hair like the midnight sky, hanging a few inches before her shoulders. She looked up to him, her wide azure eyes sparkled. Her mouth slowly opened as though she had something to say, but before Len could ask, she rose from her seat and chased the boys.

The girl cried, "a noble! a noble!" and the boys halted to run. The tinkling laughter died, too, as four pair of azure eyes stared at Len. For the first time in his two decades of living, Len felt intimidated by kids. When the children scampered towards him, he was not sure what would be their intention. But if something happened, Leonard would handle it all.

It was odd. The way the girl screamed 'a noble' seemed to call vigilance. Len was not sure if the girl yelled that to warn the boys and beat him for greeting a girl, or they were simply excited to see a gallant man. Both were rational explanation but the way the girl grinned - it should be the latter reason to be believed.

"Is it true? Are you a noble? Your clothes tell us so, but are you?" The tallest boy asked, his primrose hair stuck on his forehead and face. The other boy standing next to him had the same hair, while the girl and the other boy had dark ones. They all resembled each other so it was not hard to guess that they were siblings.

Somehow, they reminded Len of a forgotten face.

Len snorted a yes. He smiled at them as they looked delighted, fascinated by the fact that a noble was speaking to them. They asked a lot of questions, and Len answered them willingly. He told them stories about the kingdom where he lived for the past years, and even shared his experiences in traveling. Len told them the beautiful sceneries he had seen on his way to Portia - but in reality, he was always staring at Miku. He said that the fields in Chester were lonely but beautiful, even if the whole ride in such county he never tore off his eyes from Miku.

"The sleeping foliage, the silent hills, the ghostly windowsills of townhouses," Len said. What he was picturing in his mind was not the foliage or the hills, neither the townhouses. It was Miku's sleeping face and growing silence and blank expression.

"And there was a beautiful lady standing on the ship's deck,"

"A ship!" The girl exclaimed, interrupting his tale. "Brother! He had ridden a ship! A ship! You had seen the ocean! It must be wide and blue and endless!"

Len reached out the girl to pat her head. It was fun listening to kids and their incoherent talking. "Little lass, if the sea is endless I will not be here."

"It's not endless, then?" She blinked at him as if she was frustrated of the truth. Her brothers rebuked her, but their criticism sounded no more than a joke. Or probably a familial reminder.

"Haven't mum told us?" The older one said. "When father comes home, he will tell the same thing to you. He's been sailing on seas and wandering from lands to lands."

"Your father is a merchant?" Len asked and received a gleeful nod from the siblings. "I see. Then tell me, is there a missus named Rin Ackernman living here? She might be known as Mrs. Michaelson by now. She is someone I know in the past. I have lived my childhood here."

"There is! In fact, she is our mother!" The dark-haired boy cried.

The smile on Len's face was slowly wiped away, as he nibbled on his lower lip. He was tearing up. His adoptive sister had a family, and these kids were his nephews and niece. Time had passed too quick, _too quick._ Unable to say a thing, he looked back to the hut to see Miku reached their shack finally . "Why don't you go home?" Len asked as small droplets of water landed on his bare hands. "It would rain soon, you better go home."

"Well, can I know first how does the beautiful lady look like?" The girl asked, refusing to leave despite of the threatening rain. Her question halted her brothers from leaving as well, interested to listen about this beautiful lady from the ship deck.

"There was this lady with bluish green hair standing on the deck with forlorn eyes. She was staring into nothingness, seemed like she was drowned in her own thoughts. She is beautiful if only she will smile - and that is something I haven't seen." The showering rain had slowly hastened its fall, reminding Len that he had to find a shelter as well. "You have to go now. The weather is getting no good."

The kids nodded and dashed away from him. Len turned around to look for the nearest shade and saw a hovel ahead of him. Without any hesitation, he worked his legs to run his way there, removing his hat and hiding it in his coat. His hat would be damaged if he wore it still against the rain, but his hair would only get wet and dry later on. As he raced his way to the hovel, he could still hear the children screaming against the cloudburst. They must be afraid to catch cold.

Somehow, this run made Len feel resuscitated. The last time he ran as it was raining buckets, he was with Miku. The rain back then was just like today's rain, the teeming deluge was accompanied by lightning and thunder. It was supposed to be a simple stroll with his lady to show her his shack, only to find the chieftain of highwaymen. Len feared Sir Rinto back then given the words he said that day. When they scampered back to the clocktower, the rain was pouring hard. It was a sad memory but as he recalled it, Len felt more like himself.

The hovel offered him enough shelter against the rain. He sat there, panting like a horse after the long sprint. As the world felt still and peaceful, he watched how the vast lively fields turned into a blurry landscape like those paintings influenced by dadaism. It was as if the scene before him was a canvas washed away from its real colors.

As he sat on a daddock, Green Fields continued to drown in the endless pitter-patter albeit what was pouring was more than a light rain. Everything sounded like it was crashed beneath a millions of invisible tiny feet - or Len was just imagining things quite exaggeratedly? His eyes looked at the fields with indifference, until he saw two people running out of the barn. These people were not mysterious myths he had to guess. The short blond hair was his sister and the man with her was Rei. It made Len smile, a delighted smile the dreamer Len always had, for it was his first time seeing the two together after some years.

"Well, Rei," Len mumbled to himself. "How does it feel to meet your first love again? Does your heart pound like the drums along the halls of the palaces you've been to? Does it feel warm? Are you delighted? Does it sadden you to meet her children? Does it hurt you to witness how you cannot be with her at all? How do you feel, Rei? To meet your true love again?"

The blond propped his elbows on his knees and watched them enter the shack. He could not see clearly, but he was sure that Miku was standing by the door. It was just a riddle for him whether she was surprised seeing Rin or seeing Rei. The huge smile he was wearing subsided like the rain droplets, as another thought prospered in his mind. It was _wanting_ to meet Miku right here and right now, and repeat what they did in the past: to run across the fields hand in hand. At that moment in the past, Len felt so invincible, so strong, so mighty, so _un-Len._

The small shade in front their house was empty. Rei and Rin entered the house together with Miku and the kids, probably sipping their hot chocolate or coffee by now. The thought of it made Len feel lonely, he wanted to drink something warm too. Moreover, he wanted to see his adoptive mother as well, and thank her for raising him like her own child. But as he got more crossed being alone with the horse munching on the hay beside him, he caught a glimpse of a running person. It was easy to notice that tiny image from afar because her bluish green hair made her outstanding. It was Miku.

Len grinned, finding the scene amusing. "I wonder if my thoughts reached you, Miku? Does my mind connect with you just as how heaven connects to earth? Eh, Miku? Will you hear me?"

"Of course not," Len's identical image stood before him, soaking himself with rainwater. It was Leonard and his familiar straight face. _Soaking_ was not the right term at all, since he was an illusion and he could not be drenched. "Romanticizing all coincidences is something I truly hate from you, Len. How picayune."

"And you curse like an American now?" Len shrugged at him, rising from his seat to have a clearer view of Miku. The rain was still pouring hard. In a short time, the soil would loosen up until it assumed that it was quick sand.

"If I wish to, yes, Len." Leonard was now standing beside him, mirroring his position. "It is about time now, I have given you so much time to relive your nostalgia."

Len nodded. But he snapped his head to him as soon as he assented and asked, "can I have another minute to watch her reach this place?"

"Will you believe me if I tell you she will not reach this hovel? You know it already, your thoughts do not coincide - there is no such thing," Leonard walked behind him and snapped his fingers. His poker face was now lit with a sly smile as he popped in front Len. "Well, if that is your heart's wish . . . enjoy as much as you want."

The sound of the heavy rainfall resumed in his senses as he witnessed Miku to stumble in the middle of the fields. If her vision was still clear, she could see him, but sadly it was not. She could give up running by now and head back to the shack. Lying there would create a ruckus in the entire neighborhood. Leonard was right, she would not reach him, of course. "Good job, Miku. One day, you will reach me. One day . . . just keep on looking." He whispered to the wind, begging it to relay his message to her.

And Len watched her stood, boldness and perseverance still evident from her. He knew that she had a yearning to see him, and he had the mutual feeling. He could be there, running to her, helping her up, and the two of them were repeating the exact scene nine years ago. It would make him happy; but would it make her feel the same? He wondered. He asked for an answer but the answer was not for him to find out.

"I promise you, the two of you, I will stop hiding." Len mumbled as his eyes watched Rei to drag her away from the path leading to the hovel. It hurt him to see that. It was as if Rei and Miku gave up looking for him - when in the first place Len could approach them instead. The sad smile on his face faded in a split second, as it was replaced by a scowl. He raised his finger to wipe away the tears forming at the corner of his eyes and mumbled, "enough already, Len. You are so weak, I cannot stand hearing those musings anymore."

Putting his hat on, Leonard left the hovel.

* * *

Hours had passed since they reached Green Fields. Lui was very familiar to this place, though he never wandered in this particular town where Len and Rei lived. Lui was a poor boy who was slaving all day to plant crops and take care of them, and he would see this part of Green Fields only when asked to deliver milk to the cardinal. From the window where he stood, Lui watched how the entire fields suffocate itself with rainwater. This was such a cloudburst.

Lui could feel his heart pounding against his chest. Hours had passed but he was still waiting for Leonard to arrive from his wandering. He was told to prepare him a change of clothes, for the scholar had predicted the downpour. Lui sat on the doorway, hands trembling in cold. He should not question Leonard's decision but every time he would see his austere face, Lui wanted to blurt out all his queries. It required a brave face to carry out such boldness. However, if it would be against Leonard, Lui was always taken aback.

The blond lifted his head to watch the rain. His eyes were caught by a moving object from the distant bushes. Lui heard the snapping twigs and the harsh rustling and a tall blond stepped out of it, irritation painted on his face. His hat still on, Leonard marched towards Lui in a brusque manner. Lui would snicker if he would not be beaten down by Leonard, so he pretended that he was glad seeing the man back.

"Leonard!"

"Do not speak to me. Give me my clothes."

Leonard was colder and harsher than the weather. Closing his mouth before he could say something funny, Lui gave him his clothes. Leonard's face was ridiculous - Lui found it always amusing to see the man's crinkled face. It was gold for him, to see Leonard rarely got impatient. Whenever he did, the things around him were broken. Leonard walked passed by him and entered the clocktower and slipped out of his wet clothes. After a few rustling sound, he stood beside Lui, drying his hair.

"Have Mistress Miku and Sir Rei come back?" Leonard asked, loosening his hair from its tie. Lui glanced at him, surprised to hear him ask about others.

"Aye. They went back ridin' a horse."

Leonard nodded. "Well, hand me a raincoat for I need to leave."

"Again?"

Leonard glared at Lui. "I believe I just said it. Give me your raincoat, I have an important meeting to attend."

Lui shrugged. "Amid this storm? Where to?"

Leonard snatched the raincoat away from him, answering Lui with nothing but silence. Lui forgot how scary Leonard could be. The moment Leonard stole the coat from him, he was reminded not to question Leonard's decision.

"If ever someone fainted, give him a taste of brandy during his unconsciousness."

Lui did not understand what Leonard meant by that. He just watched him ran downstairs and walked under the rain, unlatching the horse from its stable before storming out of the vicinity. He was heading north, if Lui assumed correctly, and that place was a desolated terrain allotted as battlefields. The thought alone sent chill to his spine. Lui had witnessed enough of Leonard's actions and his all oddity, but now was a serious threat. He knew what Leonard was going to begin, he heard him talk to himself once. It was a war, and Rei should know this soon.

As he watched the blond disappear from the undergrowth, he kept his shaking hands in his coat's pocket. Lui knew that he was not trembling because of the cold anymore, it was because of horror.

"Why art thee wearin' a man's clothes, Miku?"

Lui gaped at the sight of his cousin sitting by the window, legs crossed as she sipped on her tea. Her hair was caught up in a single tie, reminding Lui how she resembled his father. She never spared him a glance, instead she gazed out of the window boringly. When he noticed her attendant, Gakupo, he talked to him instead.

"Mr. Cunningham? What happened to her?" Lui walked to him, eyeing Miku in an odd manner. He had the bottle of brandy under his arm as he spoke to the attendant, albeit clueless why was he doing anything Leonard told him. "Why is she dressed like that? Is she sick?"

"No, she insists that wearing her dresses are inconvenient when bathing under the rain." Gakupo picked up the pieces of paper Miku threw across the room, or the result of her tantrums when Lui was not around. The lady yelled at Gakupo after they met, venting her disgust for not telling him about his engagement with her Lady Luka. It took Gakupo half an hour to calm her down, and here she was now, having her afternoon tea.

Lui nodded and went upstairs to talk with the other gentlemen, and found them in his Uncle Leon's study room. He would not waste his time unveiling the wonders of his cousin's odd behavior - thinking about it tired him already. Women were bizarre beings that became too complex for Lui to understand. And Miku was atop the list of unusual women.

After passing through corridors, he finally found his Uncle's study room. In that room, Lui had a better view of the fields where all grasses stooped low against the sky, following wherever the wind may bring them. His father was sitting with his uncle and Prince Rei. Seeing the raven-haired Prince, Lui was aware that they had not spoken to the kingdoms yet. Well, if Queenland was told that the Prince was found, Rei should be there now and not here.

They better tell it now, Lui thought as he settled himself on a comfortable couch. The other gentlemen acknowledged his presence by briefly glancing at him, then resumed their talks. It was about Rei again; the two Holly's were advising him to tell the King and Queen of Portia about his real identity as soon as possible.

"You really should," Lui suddenly inserted, murmuring the rest of his sentence to himself. When he received curious gazes from his audiences, he laughed. "Oh, well. You see, Len is getting out of control - well, he is out of control now - and it is dangerous if none will stop him."

It was the mention of a friend's name that made Rei look at Lui with questioning eyes. True, Len could not possibly lose control, but it was Leonard who would make him lose his sanity. Lui knew that Rei had no idea of what happened to his dear friend, but it never meant that he would understand it well enough if Lui was to reveal it.

Those amber eyes bored to him deeply, along with the looks his uncle and father sent him too. He should tell it now, right? Lui had no other choice anyway. Leonard was beginning a war - this was the reason why he left to go to the north - and the fellow people in Green Fields were at stake. The Portian troops were not here with Rei, so telling the truth right now was a gamble for the countrymen's security.

His father walked and stood near the glass wall, looking farther than the swaying fields. There were not much to see since the rain looked ceaseless, but he still stared anyway. "You ought to tell something important?" Sir Rinto asked, crossing his arms against his chest. He was not smiling his usual sly smile - his smug grin was what Leonard was trying to imitate with his smirks - and it meant that he was serious.

Lui nodded, rising from his seat. "I hope tha' confessed th' truth to Prince Rei-th' truth 'bout Len."

"What about Len? What truth?" Rei quickly barked in. Well, hearing that assured Lui that none of them spoke to him about Len's account.

"Prince Rei, Len is alive and he is the lost prince of Portia." Lui said without blinking an eye, then brought his hands down heavily on his uncle's desk. "Green Fields is in danger, Uncle Leon. Leonard had the Queenland Army at the north. He could signal them to attack this town at any moment."

"What makes you think he will do that, Lui?" Sir Leon crinkled his forehead in deep thought. Such gentleman would not ignite a thing that would change the entire fate of his people - he was the prince of this land. Sir Leon believed that he was told that. "Len will not do that. He loves Portia a lot."

"But Uncle Leon, he is not Len! He is Leonard! Len is possibly dead by now."

"Dead? What on earth is that insolence you are blurting out, Mr. Holly? Your talks are confusing a great deal of my thinking!" Rei stood by his side, eyes glaring down at the blond. It was confusing to listen to Lui, but explaining Len's condition was a lot more quizzical.

"I believe I do not understand you as well, Lui." the three snapped their heads to the creaking hinges of the door, as the manly Miku entered the study room quite dramatically. She was a good-looking man with her weakness detailed in her petite frame. But of course, Lui knew she was not as weak as what she seemed to be.

Lui opened his mouth to clarify things, only to stop when a tall image followed Miku as she entered. He held the door open, sandy fringe hung disarrayed above his eyes. Those intellectual blue eyes glowered at Lui, together with his smug grin that scared the girl of the smaller blond.

"Len!" - "Leonard!"

"Well, well . . . I assume that you know everything already, Lui?" Leonard paced inside the study room, careless about the two people he surprised most. He paid no attention for the gaping Prince, nor batted his eyes to the silent lady. He walked around the room with his dreadful smirk, waiting for Lui to explain things to him as well. "I do not want you to spoil my plans. So let me say it in your behalf. I believe that you are the reason why my letters from the Kingdom of Queenland are scattered on the floor that evening before we left Lemmings, my dear brother? You should have been the one who sneaked inside Mellow when the oil lamps were lit around eight in the evening. You should also be the careless culprit who had left this handkerchief in my garden."

Lui could feel the cold sweat running down to his chin. He did not expect that Leonard was wary of him all the while. That evening before they left Lemmings - that same evening when Miku almost strangled him amidst the hallway - he went to spy on Leonard's doings due to his growing silence after that incident. He found out all of his plans, including the main reason why he was tagging along with the trip to Portia - and that was to meet the Queenland soldiers who would conquer Portia.

"How entertaining is this to experience-to experience your dear brother betraying you. Does it make you feel heroic, Lui? Do you think I can be beaten up by you and this weak lost prince? He is nothing compared to me in terms of swordsmanship, Lui. He is as weak as you. You cannot outsmart me, either. Unfortunate of you," Leonard stifled a laughter. He picked up the sword on the stand, waving it in the air as if to check its authenticity.

Lui's teeth gnashed in fear as he stepped back, gripping hard on the hold of his sword. Leonard was never the merciful one. But before he could simply admit his little detective-play that night, Rei lunged himself forward to the mad blond.

"Len! Is that you?" Rei grabbed Leonard's arm to convince himself that the person before them was not a result of hysteria or extreme longing, and when he touched him - real and warm - Rei almost broke down. But Leonard was not welcoming, he slapped Rei's hand away. It puzzled Rei how Len could do that - how Len could stare at him coldly - but he never spoke a thing. Len felt so stone cold, stone hard - someone who would never listen to Rei.

"You and your filthy hand-stay away from me, Your Highness. But listen to my words; I have a message for you and Your Majesty, King Yohio. Bring your best knights and fight for your freedom. If you defeat us, I will let you live. If you do not, I will bring change into this land-this land and its sheltered people who were never given a chance to grow. Move before we begin to attack." Leonard turned around and walked away. Once again, he was halted by a hand gripping on his arm. Judging the frail hand wrapped around his arm, he would not waste a second to think that it was someone else other than Mistress Miku. "My, my! If it isn't milady, I will have to slap your hand away. What do you want?"

"Are you Len?" Her eyes were blank and hard against him-it was not the reaction Leonard predicted from her. He admitted it to himself, he expected her to scream and challenge him to a duel. Her loneliness was not traced in her face anymore; she looked like a bored lady with a straight face.

Leonard bit his lower lip to avoid a loud laughter, and winced. "No! That pathetic coward is now gone. Farewell, Mistress Miku."

And just like that, she released his arm and watched the door to close after him.

Lui was more than surprised to see Leonard walk out as simple as that - but before he could contemplate about his strangeness, they heard a loud thud, and Miku was lying unconscious on the ground.

"The brandy!"

* * *

" ' _True love,' he said." Inigo cried. "You heard him true love is what he wants to come back for. That's certainly worthwhile."_

 _\- William Goldman; The Princess Bride_

* * *

Riding the horseback was never this dreadful. Every second he spent gripping on the horse's lanyard felt so life threatening, and Rei could not think of anything other than to rush north. When Miku passed out, Lui revealed the truth. How Len and Leonard became the same yet different person, how his extreme frustrations led him to defy his coward self, how he succeeded with his study, how Leonard managed to do everything while keeping Len unaware of Leonard's wickedness-all, Lui told everything.

As he sat on the couch and listened to Lui, Rei felt guilty for Len's frustrations. He knew Len well, the blond could not handle a terrible fall when he was about to reach his dreams. It all began after his departure, so he should end this by coming back. He did not let Lui call for his troop, if all that was needed is to wake the _Len_ sleeping inside. Lui told it so, that maybe they could break the barrier Leonard built if Rei would talk to him sincerely. Unarmed, Rei mounted on his horse to meet Len.

Mindless of the pouring rain, of the muddy track, of the poor road visibility - Rei made his way toward the north with hopes of getting back his dear friend. Len would have not suffered this way if Rei was there nine years ago. He would not struggle with two identities if he was showed a gleam of hope that his dreams would never leave him behind. Rei could feel that turmoil of twitching ache in his chest-it was guilt-and he knew, he should have not left Len that way. So even if his horse almost stumble on the uphill track, he hit it hard on the butt. Rei should not give up, he should meet him and take him back.

Leonard or Len - Rei was not sure who to acknowledge now, for Len could never begin a war. Not against Portia. The lost prince knew that his dear friend only needed someone to save him from his other persona - because if not, Len would have not shown himself in Buckingham. He wanted to believe that. Rei was firm in believing that. He could stop the war Leonard was trying to ignite. Leonard was using Len's ideas to strike the matchstick and begin a fire. If that was so, Rei would be the cold water that would end it before it could begin.

After some minutes on the horseback, Rei reached the terrain deprived of any bushes or heaths. The rain dyed the land dark as hundreds of soldiers stood half a mile away from him. He was serious. Leonard was not kidding when he said that message. Left with no choice, Rei jerked his leg so the horse ran down. The wind whipped his face with coldness, making him narrow his eyes against the harsh weather. But that was not important. Negotiation, that was what he needed. A negotiation between a scarred heart and an empty one. Len and Rei needed to be reconciled - this bound Rei's heart with hopes.

"How brave of you to come here all alone, Sir Rei of Aria? Or shall I call you, Prince Rei of Queenland?"

Rei unmounted from the saddle and stood before Leonard. His amber eyes dared to look at his friend's sly murderous eyes. If looks could talk, Rei was sure that he was unwelcomed. "Are you belittling your kingdom's army? Or your presence means you are siding us?"

"I came here to abide none of the two kingdoms' interest. This is purely my will, Sir Leonard-or is it more appropriate to call you Prince Len of Portia? - Behold, knights of Queenland! This man is making fool of you. He is the lost prince of Portia!" Somehow, Rei's little declaration stirred the soldiers.

"I wish to speak to Len, Sir Leonard. Please let me," Rei turned back to Leonard, whose smug grin never fell.

"I refuse." His voice is as vivid as his bloodthirsty eyes. "Len is dead and he is not coming out - unless you fight me so we can decide the fate of two kingdoms?"

"Mind so weak, heart unused - are you sure you made use of Len's ideas well enough? Your military tactics are futile and unconventional, deceitful morever." Rei pulled his dark fringe away from his eyes, glaring at the almost _stranger_ speaking to him now. "Your proposition of deciding the fate of these two kingdoms through our duel is utterly childish and unthought of."

"-or perhaps you are afraid that I may defeat you again? You are boasting your weakness, Sir Rei. If you think you can earn these knights' faith-pardon, they swore loyalty to me." Leonard tossed him a sword, and as soon as Rei received it, the blond attacked. "You always play the hero's role in this theater of life. I truly detest it, if I may express so," Leonard pushed him back when Rei was able to block his sword.

Rei threw his sword on the ground. His hair dripped water droplets everywhere. Fighting through swords would be his end one day, especially this one. He could not grip the slender hold against this weather. "If you wish to take over Portia, then shoot me with a gun."

"Precisely so. If I grant your wish, pray what will be left to me?" Leonard tapped his chin mutliple times, then turned back to Rei. "None! How cannot I partake in a good duel with you, Sir Rei? Well then, I beg you to fight me fairly."

Rei was beginning to lose it against him. As long as the person standing before him was Len, he could not possibly attack him when he caused him enough pain already. "I was afraid that you were too desperate to fight me. But you know fairly enough that I cannot fight you as long it is Len that I am seeing."

Leonard let out a bitter laughter. The sky cleared a little, enabling the faint light slip through the parted clouds. He seemed pleased to see that the rain ceased a little-looking at the sky with amusement. The sly smile he had never submerged like the rain, instead it appeared more homicidal. "Do your strength justice! Protect your land like a knight and do not reason out that petty excuse!"

"I refuse." Rei would never use violence against Len.

"Coward!"

"Cowardice does not arise from declining a duel. You do not justify your strength by challenging people to fight you," Rei sidestepped as Leonard sent him fatal thrusts that aimed his vital points.

"Then let me tell you, I am here because of my will." Leonard stepped forward and lunged his sword to him. "Removing cowardice marks the beginning of strength. To face all hardships, to trudge alone, to save oneself - tell me if all these are cowardice!"

To dodge all his attacks by effective footworks, Rei was running from every unconventional thrusts Leonard would give him. Leonard was not Len's stronger persona. In fact, he was his irrational fears. Physical manifestation of his frustration and broken dreams. His tears, his grievances, his fallen hope. The despondent Len.

"Pray tell me if all these are cowardice! Len is alone in everything! You left him! Why cannot we have a fair life, Your Highness!" And Rei was hearing the words Len could not tell himself. The raven-haired prince watched the sun struck Len with its light, making the blond's face glow. "You said it yourself, there would be no absolute happiness as long as the gap exists. But look at you, you aced away from him - leaving him at the bottom of hierarchy!"

"You are eaten by your dreams, Len! As I learn things for the past years, I realized that there is no such thing as absolute equality! If there would be, we need no rulers. Who would lead us then? If all are equal, who will do the duties-"

"Silence!" Leonard unsheathed his sword, the blade glistened against the faint light. "I know what you will say. I have read your stand from famous scholars, so I see no reason why listen to you. I only need you to fight me and no other trivial talks."

Fight? This will be senseless. Rei sees no chances to defeat Leonard, given the first and latest fight they had in Lemmings. He is a good swordsman and Rei has nothing against his unpredictable moves. Fighting him is pointless if Rei will not meet Len at the end of this.

Leonard averted his eyes. Whatever was going on in his mind, Rei could not tell. The rain was no more than a pitter-patter, silencing the hundreds of soldiers behind them. There was a loud marching noise from behind, probably it was one of the captains sent to tell their King this ruckus. When Leonard had his eyes back on the prince, the words that promised no restraint resonated.

"Perhaps you are afraid of hurting Len. Then I suppose you do not mind if I end you now."

"If I let you do that, will Len come back?"

"The weak has no place on earth." Leonard ran to him. "Death awaits them. They are oppressed. They are pushed down to the bottom of social classes. They slave. The weak has no place for me."

Rei closed his eyes. Everything - he would do for Len's sake - for Len's heart to heal, Rei would give it.

Even if it costs his life.

There was a loud clatter from clashing blades. Standing before Rei was Miku, shielding him from Leonard's hostile hit. She kicked the blond away, and stood for Rei. The marching sound Rei heard earlier - it was her who came to rescue. He could see that the Holly's were near them, still trudging through the high road to aide him as well.

"Then I will fight for him," was her declaration. Leonard snickered at her but said no words, thus he let their swords do talking.

"I want to understand Rei's feeling. I want to meet Len and take his grievances away. Though it all seemed unthinkable and possible, I still want to tell the truth you never grasped, Leonard." Miku launched her greatest assault. Her blade came like a flash again and again. It delighted Leonard to retreat, so he kept on parrying. "What love cannot surpass is something what love never touched. But you are not stone-hearted," she stepped aside and swayed her sword around her hand before lunging it toward him. "Rei loved you more than anything that he will let you take his life-if that costs your happiness."

Mistress Miku was someone Leonard wanted to see the least.

"You never opened your eyes to reality that you are never forgotten, Len! That you-" everything was red, "you are his true love, his brother, his friend . . . and,"

Leonard was full of surprises and wickedness and vices.

"Len! What have you done!" Rei rushed to Miku, catching her before she could crash on the ground. There was a dagger buried on her stomach, but judging where she was stabbed no vital organs could be damaged by that. However, she might die from blood loss. Fear ran on his spine as he held her. This should not have happened.

Swords fell on the ground.

Everything was red.

Sight darkening, Miku coughed blood. Rei puller the dagger out, hands trembling as he held her close to him. His only wish for her was to fight the stupor, but the more he witness the spreading redness on her dress shirt, his faith was shaken.

Leonard gaped at the sight of her blood dripping from her belly, her eyes droop like a closing door. The next thing he knew, he was standing in an empty red terrain while facing Len. He was scowling at him, saddened by the results of his action.

"I suppose we have been good friends, Leonard." Len spoke with forlorn eyes. "I let you do the things that makes you happy. But there is no happiness when you try killing _happiness_."

Leonard cringed at his words. The stars fell before him and broke the ground where he was standing. Time melted with him, the whole scene was fuzzy. He could see Len closing the door before him, and he was smiling. It was the genuine smile Leonard always wanted to see.

"There is no need for crisis anymore. I choose to live. Thank you."

His feet brought him to Rei and Miku. From behind he could hear Sir Leon commanding the brigade to head back in Queenland. They would follow Sir Leon. After all, he was King Oliver's right hand. Len loosened his cravat and pressed it against Miku's wound-making the lady yell dull cries.

"What are you doing, Leonard?!" Rei tried slapping his hand away, but when his kind blue eyes met his amber ones, there is recognition. The madness has been cried out.

"Glad to see you again, Rei." Len smiled. "Leonard's gone. Hey, Miku? Hang on, alright? I'm a physician, I will not let you bleed to death."

"You hurt me enough," she groaned, putting her bloody hand on his face. "How long have I been blind to miss you all the while, Len?"

Len smiled and looked up, finally noticing that the sun has illuminated the sky.


	21. Epilogue

_The Classic Tale of You and Me:_

 _\- EPILOGUE -_

 _"_ Len and Rei insist that it is already a _dream come true._ The two lost princes meet their parents and reconcile. Len is now known for devising a flying machine based from Leonardo Da Vinci's design.

But above all these, they warned their kingdoms about the possibility of Britain's plans to conquer both Portia and Queenland - and this prediction happened soon. All parties shed no blood for the kingdoms surrendered to the greater empire, admitting to the princes that economy was not going as smooth as it used to be. Like what Len thought, most of the resources were allotted to fund the war against Portia (and Portia to Queenland) for the past two decades. It was a real waste.

The two remained in the nobility. Shortly after Miku's recovery - by this time Rei was sure that Len was no longer mad - the two princes both asked for her hand. This time, there were no green-eyed ladies glaring at her, no one accused her for stealing them - _the boys._

But she could not possibly choose.

The two princes wanted a break from being a nobility, so even if against what their parents and Miku's uncles' words, the three eloped. Albeit there was really no _plans_ of getting married-because the idea of the two bridegrooms and one bride was a taboo-to live what would complete their _dream come true._

This is what happened.

* * *

"In a small town somewhere in Gimmelwald, a fine pair of good friends lived. A flaxen and a raven haired, despite their obvious differences blend smoothly. Both have the same pale skin that blushes like tomatoes when exposed to the common daylight of summertime. Stomping against the green bed of earth, the two of them are racing against each other down the slope, with wide smiles painted on their faces.

Running somewhere near the Alps, the young men spent the day merrily. None of the village people knew the origins of these foreigners; none of them knew that they were princes of the two former kingdoms that were now a part of the British Empire. They were the princes who wore off their royal origins to live a simple life with their found happiness. Quite ironic was their idea of giving up the throne to live a farm life, but this was a mutual decision from the princes who were once stable lads. Even though starting up a new life in a foreign land was hard for them, it was a better idea than to continue their troubled lives in the English lands.

Len and Rei ignored the pebbles that hurt their feet as they scampered down the hill. As long as they would reach the lady seated under the large tree, they should be fine. The rich wind filled their lungs with rejuvenating air. The air from the sloping greenness blew the cobwebs growing in their hearts as they dashed down. Cheeks stretched as they laughed, the two flushed in red as they ran a bit quicker on the uneven land. After a few more seconds and long strides, the two fell down on the soft grasses while laughing their hearts out.

"Since when did you become good in running, Len?" Rei asked as he laid himself flat on the endless green bed of nature, staring at the branches of the trees that looked like its arms spreading in all directions. "You are not as feeble as you used to be. Is that some kind of sorcery?" Ages had passed since the last time they ran like this, such long years made them forget the simple bliss of life like this one. He looked up to the blond and watched him scowl.

"It is no surprise, Rei. Quit giving me that bewildered look! You know I defeated you once in fencing! Aren't you supposed to be happy for my victories against you? I never know that I am capable of beating you in anything, you know that!" Len laughed as he rolled on his stomach, propping his elbows on the ground so he could have a good view of the lady leaning against the tree. Like the wind, she was just quiet the whole morning. "Do you agree with me, Miku?" His eyes softened at the sight of the taciturn lady, probably because he loved her dearly.

Switzerland is a country in West-central Europe, surrounded by European nations that flourished the history. It is the place where Len, Rei and Miku decided to live after running away from their lives in Portia. Disconnected from all of their connections in Portia and Queenland, they are starting a new life away from their shattered past. Although they received a lot of objections from the royalties and Miku's uncles, they escaped the premises and followed their will.

The two princes talked to their parents and asked permission to leave their fallen kingdom, and though their families wished them to stay - if it would make the two princes happy, they gave in.

A life born out of simplicity - this is what they all ever wanted.

"Whatever you say, Len." Her eyes stared blankly ahead, its weird shade of blueness reminded the blond of the glaciers in far north. "I think you should have your midday dinner now. Aren't you tired of running out there this whole hour?" As if it was coincidence, they heard a loud grumble from Len's stomach, signalling that it was really time for lunch.

Rei sat beside her and took the food stuffed inside their lunchbasket, tossing Len his share of bread and glass of milk. He pulled Miku's hand and placed her share of bread, and the three of them ate merrily in the middle of the green meadow. For some minutes, Rei watched Miku in her every movement - however, this received a scrutinizing look from Len. The former knight was only curious with what was going on in her mind, and he was also admiring her beauty at the same time. That kind of beauty someone would not see at first glance: the pallor of her skin stained by her freckles across her nose, her unsteady eyes deprived of sight, her angelic smile that kept Len himself and enamored Rei.

His thoughts drifted to her blindness when she groped for her glass bottle. It was a riddle for Rei why she remained blind when Len could remove her cataracts. "Are you really fine with this, Miku? You can always ask Len to do your operation so you can see again," Rei asked as he helped her drinking from the bottle of milk. She just smiled and wiped the suds away, wincing her head to say no. It was really a riddle for Rei.

"Len is a country doctor now. He could always do that for me, but a lot of people needed his help. I can wait," she chuckled, "and Rei is with me. You'd always bring me with you whenever the hay would be carted away. That is definitely better than to be a common woman inside the house."

The two just nodded at her - even though she would not see them nod - and went back on finishing their victuals. The three of them were puzzles that the village people could not understand; they could not decipher what were their relations to each other. It seemed to them that they were siblings albeit there were no common resemblance to the three of them. They were always seen dining under the huge tree near their hut during the mornings. Most of the times, they would see the raven-haired man riding a cart with the odd blind lady, delivering the haystack on the barns downhill. The village people knew the blond man as the new countryside physician who would cure ill people on low prices - sometimes he was not asking for a payment. Most of the times, this blond doctor would deliver bottles of milk in neighboring with, again, the odd blind lady.

"What do you think of this simple life, Rei?" Len asked as he put the empty glass bottle back in the basket, then sat in front the two. He stared at Miku whose smile never left her face. It made him smile as well, forgetting his question for a moment until Rei answered.

"I think . . . it isn't petty. I could live all my life as long as the two of you are with me." Rei took the empty bottle from Miku and kept them all back in the lunchbasket. The warm breeze blew against them, circling them as though it invited them to play in the meadow again. "Listening to Miku while she play piano every Sunday, helping Len in farming, eating thrice a day . . . I suppose things are better this way."

"But can we really live like this?" Len asked, leaning his face against his palms. It was always the same question he had in mind. He could not find the answer by himself howbeit he tried coming up with one. "Rei, we both love Miku but she seemed to be indecisive who to choose between us." His brows furrowed in deep thought, imagining how their lives would look like some years from now. Yes, he wanted to have his own family to - with Miku as her wife, but she was incapable of choosing who is who, or maybe she was just pretending. In reality, Len could not read Miku the way he could read the sky to predict the weather.

"I love you both," Miku cried against the rustling of the leaves. And once more, the two heard the same excuse from her. Rei and Len realized for how long she was saying this. Every time. They would milk the cows in mornings, dragging her with them, and she would say, _'the two of you are so great! I love you both!',_ or _'good day, Rei and Len! I love you both!'_ When they would watch her secretly from the kitchen, the two would hear her talk to Len's dog and his best-friend (a sheep), and say, _'you're both adorable! I love you both!'_

"That's so **platonic**!" Rei and Len chorused, voice seemed to echo in the alps. Miku just laughed and closed her eyes, resting her head against the tree. Seldom that you would find people who would love you like this - and that would be the reason why she could not choose yet. If they decided to find a new lover, it would be fine with Miku. What she cared for was seeing their happiness and she was fine that.

"I really do," she sighed. "I only wish for the two of you to be happy, since that is the purpose of my love. I love you both."

She'd be fine with that. She loved them both and would love what they love.

The two farm boys whined and shook her to hear a definite answer, but she only ignored them, pretending that she was asleep. Maybe, they could stay like this and let this be their happy ending. Under a shade of tree where the summer breeze whispered 'true love', Miku Raleigh was sure that they would be happy and contented in their life. Forever, probably."

 _The end -_

* * *

"Rei! What have you done!" Len rose from his seat and chased the boy who stole his pen. "Rei! Give it back! You ruined it!"

The supposedly neat period that would end Len's long narrative was now a hasty line, staining the clean paper with a bizarre black line. It was always like this, Rei would fill Len with let-downs when he was almost done in something. Usually he would end up ruining Len's works.

The clock struck eight in the morning. The Kagamine household was busy in packing their snacks and gifts, for today they would visit a friend in the hospital. If Len's parents were busy putting their lunch in the car, two boys were also busy upstairs.

The raven-haired laughed at him and tossed the pen to the angry blond. Catching the pen by chance - for he always missed everything thrown to him - Len hurried back to his table and seemed to write something on his notebook, before slipping it in a fancy paper bag. Len was _done_ with his gift but Rei messed up his neat writing, and everything was like _imperfect_ for Len.

"Hey, don't tell me you're going to give _that_ to Miku?" Rei asked, eyeing the blond curiously as he tidy up his table. "You serious? She can't read . . . _yet._ "

Len is always the sappy one. He is a sentimental person whose root of sentimentality is something Rei cannot find. A dreamer by nature, Len is known for being the smart-pretty-boy of the whole Weyburn High. He has few friends in the campus - it is more probable that Rei is the only one - for he always has his eyes on Miku and Rei only.

Albeit her blindness is congenital, it is said that she can gain her sight if a matching cornea will be transplanted to her. So she needs someone else to be her eyes, and Rei and Len play the role. They let her see the things she can never see with her eyes - but again, it is not only the eyes that one can see. All the things normal people can do, Rei and Len always give their best to let Miku experience that, to make her feel that she is normal.

The two boys are always with her, describing things she can't see. How _red_ and other colors look like, how flying is different from walking, how Len and Rei look like - they all tell her the things she has to see yet. When they tell her that her hair is pretty, that _she_ is pretty, she will counter them with questions such as, _'what is pretty? How does it look like?'_ And every day her questions will augment, prolonging the time Len and Rei spent for her.

The blond pulled Rei out of his room and dragged him downstairs, stopping only when they found themselves sitting at the backseat of the Kagamine's car. "That's not a problem. I will teach her," Len finally answered. His eyes were sparkling with excitement as the engine ignited and off they go. "But it makes more sense to give her this, than to hand her a pocket knife." Len shrugged and rolled his eyes to him.

Today is the 16th birthday of Len and Rei's childhood best friend, Hatsune Miku, who is currently in the hospital. She is still recovering after her eye operation, and hopefully, she will be able to see again after a kind person donated her cornea for the blind girl.

Kagamine Len and Kagene Rei were her good friends since they were seven. Their parents were high school friends that's why the three were together ever since. Len was living next to Miku's house while Rei was living about seven blocks away, and that brought them together for all these years. Since the day they were introduced to each other, the three were like inseparable triplets that spent almost every possible second within the four seasons. Summer, fall, winter or spring, the three were always seen playing together, albeit most of the times it was only Len and Rei who were playing while Miku was an audience.

Most of the people from their village knew these boys as her _knight_ and _whiz._ Rei would beat the kids who tried picking up on her and making fun of her. Thus, Miku began calling him her _knight._ On the other hand, Len was her tutor in everything who would bring her out of their house to tour her everywhere. It was like magic for Miku; every time she spent with Len was magical for the blind girl, so she began calling him her _whiz, wizard._ These people expected them to split apart once they hit puberty - knowing that boys would become indifferent with the familiar things when they mature - but it surprised everyone that they still stuck together like glue.

The door swung open jointly with ruckus.

"Miku! We're here!" Rei announced as they barged inside her room. She was sitting on her bed, drenched with the summer sun. Her eyes were still bandaged but her head faced them, lips tugged in a wide smile. "Hm? They're still not taking the bandages off? How can this gorgeous lady see my muscles?"

"Rei, you don't have muscles." Len countered, and was quickly replied by Rei's _oh-shut-up_ signature line. Len and Miku's parents laughed as the boys slumped on her bed and talked a lot - more like Len was arguing with Rei.

"Well! Happy birthday, Miku!" Len placed his gift on her lap, nibbling on his lower lip as he watched her grope on that gift. Rei could be a senseless speaker at sometimes, for he was good for nothing aside from teasing Len to Miku. It was evident, though, that Len had a special liking towards the girl.

"What is this, Len? A new story you wrote?" Her face gleamed as she hugged the thin notebook, excitement painted on her lips. "I will finally see how books and letters and violets and everything look like! Tell me, what is this about?"

"Len is too sappy when writing, Miku. I saw the epilogue of that novella and it's about you, choosing between me and hi-" before Rei could spoil everything, Len shoved a pillow on his face. The blond hated how garrulous his best guy could be, that sometimes Rei was no longer aware that some things were better unsaid.

"It's called _The Classic Tale of You and Me,_ Miku. There are kings, queens, and princes there. Just like the stories you wanted to hear. But I made sure there were no princesses who'd suffer to have their happy end. How's that, Miku?" Rei was trying to pull Len away from Miku, but the blond was always determined to don't let Rei interfere him when talking to her. "There are swords and gardens and flowers and horses and pianos - everything you wished to hear!"

Miku loved fairy tales and all stories about kingdoms and princes. She loved listening to Len's stories about the glorious knights saving the damsel in distress, and how the princes ruled their kingdoms with their princesses. But the girl never liked how witches and all other evil forces ruined the lives of characters before reaching their happy end. Miku only wanted a simple magical story, as if it could be done in life. That was her little wish.

"Really?" Miku exclaimed. "What is it all about? Why is it entitled that way? Isn't this a _Disney-_ fairytale kind of thing?"

"You're so cliché, Miku." Len silenced Rei again, he was not helping the blond.

"Ignore him, he's being a jerk - Rei! You're almost seventeen, stop acting like twelve!" Len laughed awkwardly, looking back to Miku. "Well, it is called _The Classic Tale of You and Me_ because it is a _timeless_ tale of friendship and true love between three kids joined and separated by fate. I will teach you how to read once they took off your bandages."

The merrymaking was interrupted when Miku's doctor came in. His lilac hair swayed as he walked to the girl while nodding and smiling to her visitors. When he reached her, he quickly asked how was the girl feeling, which was replied by "I am fine, doc".

"Well then," he said, glancing at his wrist watch to check the date. "It's been three days. I will remove your bandages."

Cheers and yelps clamored in the room as Len and Rei hopped out of the bed, making a way for the doctor. They were both excited to witness Miku's bandages taken off, and they were agitated to see her reaction once she laid her eyes on them.

Before Dr. Kamui could proceed to loosen her bandages, everyone in the room heard Rei's voice - loud and clear. "Doc, thank you for looking after our Miku." The doctor smiled at Rei, showing a thumbs up. His hands reached at the back of her head.

The bandages fell on her lap.

Miku blinked twice as Dr. Kamui put a protective eye glasses on her.

"How do you feel, Miku? Can you see me?"

Tears fell from her eyes. Her dark world was gone without any traces left. Everything was bright and . . . _weird_. She slowly blinked, studying how the things around her looked like. What was his hair called? Those people watching her, were they her and Len's parents? Miku wanted to take in as much as she can, indulging herself with what seemed to be an alien world to her. Amid her musing, she was startled when two boys held on her hands. One on the left, one on the right; both greeted, "happy birthday!"

The words that left her mouth were the people she always yearned to see.

"Rei! Len!"

With her vision restored, the real tale has just begun.

 **The End.**

* * *

Plot/Story ® Shirai Hisaihi

© Vocaloid characters used here belong to its rightful owners.

Thanks for reading!


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